My Strange Little World
by SillehKitteh
Summary: In a world where gods and humans roam around like nobody's business, Tifa Lockhart finally managed to get into Class-0. Her reason? She needed to get far away from Midgar. She wants to make friends, but closes herself up. She's a good student, but has trust issues. Can Class-0 finally help her open up? Or will she remain a locked heart? AU. Tifa-centric.
1. The World As We Know

**A/N:** Dear readers,

Here are a few warnings you deserve to be given:

There will be a lot but hopefully not too much, moments, where characters are out of character. I am not Kojima nor am I Nomura and I will never know the characters as much as their creators. I will do my best to incorporate the key elements of the characters personalities but I also wish to have the freedom of giving them my own personal twist and reinterpretation. If you are looking for characters that are extremely close to the very miniscule detail of personality traits, then this fanfiction is not for you and I apologize.

This is also my first fanfiction but by all means criticize and praise it. To be honest with you, I think I'll get more criticisms than praise for this and I am not sure how to take either one of them. That does not mean that I won't take your advice into account. I also do not think that I am a decent writer and there are writers better than me, but I still want to give it a try. To those who are reading this and wish to continue to do so, I thank you very much for your attention it is really appreciated. In any case, I am writing this fanfiction more for myself and I just want to share my love for the Final Fantasy series with you guys.

Also this cross-over fanfiction is very Alternate-Universe (AU) in every aspect you can imagine. Every character is normalized but their world isn't the most normalized and yet they live with it; you'll see what I mean when you read into my first work of fanfiction and see how I twisted the setting of the plot and played and essentially abused it. That being said, there is a lot of comedy and potential crack-ishness in this fanfiction. It's not completely crack but is crack-ish. Some of you might even feel a slight Gintama-esque feel to it if you are familiar with the anime and continue to read, you'll see what I mean.

Finally and a much more relevant warning: this fanfiction is Tifa-centric. I love Tifa as a character and hold her very dear to my heart, even when there are times I think Tifa deserves a good slap upside the head from time to time. I also warn you that this version of Tifa is more on the jaded side and slowly she will learn to have a caustic side to her. There will be character development which I won't spoil for you. Pairings will also come much later because this project of mine is such a challenge for me that I don't want to focus on romance as of yet. But never fear there will be eventual romance.

With all this my dear readers, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to writing the next and receiving your reviews.

 **A/N 2:** Dear readers, old and new, this is to tell you that this chapter has been updated two or three times, especially because I felt that this introduction had enough spoilers so I toned down the spoilers bit. I also felt that a lot of sentences were awkward but I think right now it is good. Thank you all! And thank you **Whimsical Rhapsody** for your constructive reviews, they are always most welcome!

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 **DISCLAIMERS:**

 **The folowing characters are property of Square-Enix; I claim no ownership of these Final Fantasy characters mentioned in this fanfiction. Thank you.  
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 **CHAPTER ONE: THE WORLD AS WE KNOW**

I came a long way. I was just a girl in Nibelheim, some backwater village dab-smack in the middle of nowhere. It was a place where the first eight years of my life was magical. That's 'cause I had a loving home with a mom and a dad. But then suddenly Mom died of an illness and Dad has never been the same. I did something stupid that set him off too. Let's just say, I had to learn self-defense since my father was no longer the father figure that protects you and cherishes you. I learned my art from Zangan primarily. I was a dedicated student. And because I was such a dedicated student I never used martial arts against anyone, not even for defending myself. Except for that _one_ time... Anyway, moving on.

I had moved to Midgar, I had to leave Nibelheim with a lot of bittersweet memories. I can't say that I have many fond memories of Midgar but I will tell you this: I once that once I step into the city, I would experience the vastness of this world. But now that I see myself now, Midgar is tiny compared to the whole planet I got to visit! But still, Midgar was a source of my personal misery and problems.

It just made me fucked up.

But I had one friend, my best friend, who takes the form of a porcelain-faced-green-eyed angel named Aerith. At first, I just didn't know how to act around her when I first came to Midgar High. I mean, of course, I was just a kid. I think I may have been the youngest in my class... doesn't really make an excuse, though. So anyway, in the end she started to grow on me and we became really close. Sure, there were times when I was a little jealous of the way she could open Cloud up so easily. See, she had this airy nature, like as if she possessed an aura of something, oh I can't pinpoint the word... ethereal? Yeah, that must be it. Ethereal. She was the love of Zack Fair and Cloud Strife and she deserves their love and attention. I was just a broken girl but I still tried to smile through it all. It was the least I could do. I think that was why I was so hard to approach by Cloud… and well, anyone really.

Although, Zack was one persistent dude though, as you'll soon find out. I thought Cloud would be the one to call out on my bull.

Heh. Cloud Strife. My childhood friend from Nibelheim. He even followed me to Midgar High. Funny how I always pegged him for a blond idiot. I always had a personal 'No-Blonds-Code' but only in terms of dating. I wasn't even remotely interested in him and we only got into some form of talking terms where we just show mutual respect. We were never that close but I always felt that he tried to make a connection with me. And for some small instances I did, or at least I think I did. But it's all good now, we're good and any resentments are buried in the past.

It was with Zack Fair rather that I had a better connection with; his open personality and optimism was contagious. It's hard not to love the guy. And it's hard not to think about him from time to time. He was hard to forget.

Then there was Yuffie Kisaragi, someone I came to love as a younger sister, despite her kleptomania. She never stole anything important from me. Maybe she felt bad. But she would often steal my lunch; not that I minded. I was flattered she liked my home cooking and learned to get used to bland cafeteria food. I don't blame her and I never ask her why she would always steal my food. It was just too funny.

If only we all met under better circumstances or at least in a different school with different people. Because honestly...Midgar High School is… in all essence a shithole. Sometimes I wonder why the Gods that descended from Planet Terra doesn't turn this school into a pile of glass, sticks and rusty metal. But as Reno would say, "C'est la fucking vie". Hah.

I really don't want to talk about the Gods and Goddesses at all but I just had to be born in this Planet fucking Gaia which I call my home, so. I mean as if life isn't strange enough as it is, we have fucking Gods running around ramant in this world.

It was a very uncomfortable relationship between humans and Gods. While some forces were intent on gaining worship with their evil ways, some Gods saw that they were in fact inferior to us Gaia's children and their immense powers is used to serve them. At one point they were slaves or familiars or whatever, that would be summoned at our beck and call and that sounded like a sweet deal.

Of course, it became a dull deal for the Gods and wars happened, blah-blah, and finally Gods just… exist simply because.

It's sad for them really. There are Gods, like Shiva, (who I reluctantly accept as my personal favorite God), who sees herself as a supped up blue woman with no purpose and yearns to live like a human. And then there are Gods like Ifrit who just does whatever the heck he wants. I don't really care what the Gods do, I don't pay attention to them. I'm simply not interested in them and their problems.

Quite frankly, they're all assholes and they are very insignificant in my life, save for Shiva and maybe Cosmos.

It's too bad she chooses to stay with her asshole of a boyfriend Chaos who takes the form of douchebag... err, human. Seriously, Chaos is an asshole. What does Cosmos see in him? We all know his true form, right? Right? I don't care if Cosmos and Chaos are the two main Gods that keep the main events of this planet running in their fashion, my opinion still stands and some people agree with me.

Okay, I admit it. I may be a little judgemental of these diving beings but living alongside them has this, uh, perk, if you will (personally I call it 'a-bitch-to-deal-with-thing-a-ma-jig). This perk is about visions; and not just any visions. Let me explain: a lot of us see visions of our alternate selves. There that simple enough for ya? No? You want me to explain? Well damn. Okay, here we go.

Some us of live a nightmare where we turn into crystals. Others see themselves as corpses; I remember how that would terrify Zack when he talked about it to us... laid himself bare in front of his trusty friends when he told us his experience before he manages to pull off his stupid smile again like nothing happened. He doesn't deserve that. And I'm proud to say that he's alive and kicking ass! And for some luckier ess-oh-bees, they see themselves on road trips kicking monsters or being war heroes, so on so forth.

Basically, the general theme of our 'visions' has to do with struggle and fighting against all odds. They usually happen during puberty and adolescence and then the 'visions' leave us alone.

Jeez, as if being a teen isn't hard enough. Especially if you are a girl, if you know what I mean.

But remember this: we aren't whatever we are in our visions. We don't belong to those worlds. And thank goodness for that. I hate the idea of not ever having the chance to meet the other people that I have met and became close friends with. I love Cloud and Aerith, but I don't want to be in a world where I don't get to see awesome people like Zack and Cinque and Trey and, you get the drift! Sometimes I see Barret, the bouncer at a bar whose little girl Marlene, I used to babysit. Sometimes I see my personal C.I.D. Then there was some weird guy in a red cloak and talking beasts and a cat robot.

The only visions that give me real comfort and relief is Yuffie, as a ninja, which suits her so well its hilarious, stealing shiny round objects, I can't remember the name of. I'm glad that is one aspect that is done right with these visions because Yuffie's kleptomania is an element that encompassed my cozy, warm little world and made it home. Oh, and I vaguely remember seeing Mr. Reeve Teusti, my mathematician and economics teacher.

But the worst of my visions was watching Aerith die, at the hands of Sephiroth Crescent, the current head of Midgar Police.

Figures. Never trust cops (as the slum rats would say).

But despite nightmarish visions we get, we still learned to live normally with them. Most of us learned to dispel them as ugly pranks of the Gods. I was most adamant about sharing my visions. They are not my destiny. They are not going to define who I am. The Tifa Lockhart there is not the same girl as me. I admit that the visions got to me. I was afraid that the Tifa Lockhart in the bathroom mirror is the real one. I punched it with my bare fucking fist.

A normal person would go to a vision specialist-slash-therapist, a god, or the most simplest of options, talk to your friends about it. I did neither of these things and I think that may have been the real reason why my time at Midgar High was so terrible and why I had such a fallout with my friends. I blame myself entirely. I was a guilt-ridden mess. And I just _had_ to stay true to my family name and kept my mouth shut about it all; how insecure I felt; how afraid I was.

How could I tell Aerith that I saw her die? How the hell am I supposed to face a head police officer that he is probably going to skewer an innocent girl in pink? I can't hurt them. My visions of Cloud and me did not help either, only to see us as the only people standing together as the only survivors of Nibelheim but… I still never felt close to Cloud. This visions of Cloud is not the Cloud I know and I feel as if I will never know this Cloud or any Cloud, no matter what universe. Cloud tried to coax me into talking about it; I gave him an ugly face and he just smiled to placate me and said the same philosophy I took upon myself: visions don't mean shit. They are meant to be ignored completely. How wrong I was. How very wrong and sooner or later, preferably later, you'll find out why I was so wrong. Not in the typical way you imagine, I still say visions don't mean shit. It's the way you handle it and where you put your priorities.

Zack never pressured me talk but there were times he had been stern. He _actively_ tried to get me to open up. Aerith being Aerith tells me that I can tell her when she's ready. God damn it, girl, you probably already know. It's rude to ask questions you already know the answer to. Sooner or later, a potential friendship between me and Cloud that hasn't even blossomed yet it had been strained; only because I was selfish and stupid. I simply wouldn't share my thoughts. I had always been a social recluse in class.

It didn't help with the increase in bullying either and the nasty rumor mill that keeps turning to feed fodder to the mean-minded. My self-esteem was drained and I came to school as a tired girl that aged twenty years, always wearing baggy hoodies and worn sneakers. I was so weary and I felt alone. I didn't want to let my 'traits-of-an-unpopular-country-bum-cooties' rub off on my friends so I distanced myself. Cloud forgot how to approach me. Zack did nothing except show his concern then try to cheer me up in any way he could. Aerith always waited for me patiently looking at me with concern and at the same time, guilt for some reason. She never did anything wrong.

The only thing that remained normal was Yuffie stealing from me but pretty soon other girls took her example in a malicious way, raiding my locker, even went as far as stealing my homework. I was able to handle it in the first year as a freshmen but things took a turn for the worse in second year. First off, all the teachers I liked left.

Then those three silver-haired bastards happened. Mr. Hojo also happened. Or shall I label them as 'the incident'. So cliché, but so true.

They were mean to everyone, Loz was especially mean to me. Then there is that one time he and his brothers attempted something incredibly terrible and… unforgivable to me. My dignity was only saved by surprisingly … I'm going to keep you guessing. He got me the hell out of this situation that I got stuck in. And ... there were some ugly truths here and there. I refused to share anything I went through with my friends.

Things took a turn for the worse when I returned to school. I avoided everyone like a virus. Every time Zack and Cloud reached out to me I pushed them away. I kept running to the opposite direction of Aerith whenever she caught sight of me. I was bullied non-stop, the nastiest of rumors kept spreading around and eventually I faced the worst form of bullying that even lead me to being accosted in my own home.

I had now life. Why?

Because I was focused on studying, studying and studying. I would go by train to go to Junon International Gymnastics Stadium (JIGS for short), to practice and hone my ever improving skills in martial arts. I would do this secretly. Zack... caught me of course. But he kept my secret. More on that later.

Anyway, as far as the rest of my friends know, I am a defenseless girl in ugly clothes and a pitiful case of a social recluse… why I thought it was a good idea to hide my potential is still beyond me. I was afraid of going to school then. It didn't matter if I can throw a man ten meters away from me in a single punch, but school was always such a daunting place for me at the time. The school subjects that I had thoroughly enjoyed became more of a duty and a series of suffocating obstacles for me. You could say I was studying this hard because I was desperate.

And _desperate_ I was.

I just couldn't let myself talk of that incident. Even now I am having difficulty explaining the details… all those innocent lives.

I needed to escape and get far, _far_ away from Midgar and say goodbye to the whole chapter. I even wanted to close the chapter permanently to when I met Zack, Cloud, Aerith and Yuffie. It is an unfair and cowardly decision. I know that now. You see, I needed the grades to enter Vermillion Bird Academy in Rubrum Dominion. I was an orphan, I was broke and I couldn't let myself enter without a scholarship. That meant I had to study extra hard with grades over 95% to get to class zero. Of course I know in reality that a whopping 80% average is enough but I felt that the academic gap between the Academy and Midgar High was big. Really big. Or I am just too harsh on Midgar.

So, finally, I got the grades but I needed a birth certificate. That meant I had to go back to Nibelheim.

Administration is a real bitch.

I dreaded it but due process is a pain like that. And this is the part where things got really messy between me and Aerith. You see Cloud told Aerith that he suspected things were… rather dark for me in Nibelheim. That guy's sense of timing is... impeccable. Especially the times where he chose to be observant. I guess not all blonds are dumb.

But whatever he had told Aerith, something in her must have snapped and she _followed_ me to Nibelheim on the next train. You can imagine how surprised and upset I was. I mean, all of the sudden, she was just there; next to the Nibelheim's most famous dating spot… a water tower.

There was another reason why Nibelheim was a sore spot for me. You see, while I was in Midgar, before the 'incident', I had been informed that my father had liver failure... He had to sell his house to pay medical bills and someone else now lives in it. Truth was, it was the only way to pay off the dubious amount of debt he had. I visited him... it wasn't the brightest moment of my life. And I told him that I hated him. Terrible, isn't it? It wasn't just about him selling the house. Aaaaahh, I'll explain later.

Back to Aerith.

So I met her and when I saw her, I froze.

Then like the cowardly bitch I was I ran when she confronted me. I knew that she was right. We _had_ to talk. We _had_ to get closure before I left. I never told anyone I was leaving. But Aerith was intuitive. And just as her intuition had warned her, I left my friends without so much as giving them a proper goodbye. I can't believe the way I treated them but I had reasons. I never said that they were good reasons but still. I was scared to say it. There was so many things I was scared to say. I was scared to open my mouth! If only I had the courage to just open my mouth! Aerith was pissed and she had the right to be.

Then came the monster tornado on that very day. Funny, Nibelheim was supposed to be destroyed by fire. I had dreamed of then Officer Sephiroth committing the act himself. But, as we have it, water and wind was the ultimate destruction of Nibelheim. Few had survived.

What did that have to do with Aerith? While I was running away like a coward, she chased me all the way to the lighthouse. Then we fought verbally. And then we found ourselves holding hands and witnessing Nibelhiem's doom.

And then…

She...

Aerith saved my life. Because of me, she was in… Oh this is so hard!

I couldn't face Cloud and Zack after that. I couldn't face anyone in Midgar. Aerith was lying in the hospital and I was studying in the most prestigious academy living a good life. What kind of a friend was I?!

See that?! See that series of unfortunate events. The cycle of guilt. How I kept throwing my happiness away by locking my heart? How I just didn't want anyone to bear my emotional baggage? How I felt that I could do this all on my own? How I arrogantly assumed that I'll breeze through and be happy as long as everyone else is? How I felt that it was okay for me to be alone when I should have realized that I wasn't. My friends have my back. I can trust them.

Oh yeah, I'd say I came a long way…

I have my beautiful friends to thank for that. I thank my CID, Cid Highwind for paying special attention to me and convincing Cid Raines to help me out, my roommate for convincing her boyfriend to give me a job. My precious friends, my little group, every member that made my strange little world. I would take a bullet and some more for them. They were like my siblings, I felt that I had a place to belong. Most importantly, if it wasn't for them, I couldn't have faced my past, nor the people I buried in them… they helped me every step of the way. I learned a lot from the various people I met.

The conclusion of this story is fucking rushed I know.

This isn't even chapter one. But admit it, this introduction is fucking long already. And half the time I am showing you Highwind's influence on my language and my constant rambling. Don't worry everything will get sorted.

I hope.

I am going to tell you this story one chapter at a time. It'll be like reading a book, only you also get to hear my annoying voice. I'm telling you what to expect from this story. At times, it'll frustrate you or excite you, because it's ridiculously convoluted.

But I'm still grateful because this is _my_ story. And this is my life.

So listen carefully. I will not repeat a single thing twice. And be patient. It's long. It's complicated. But the conclusion is simple: I was an awful wreck. Now I'm an _awesome_ wreck, Mr. Ballad.

Oh I'm sorry. I mean Caius... heh.

Tell me when you are ready for Chapter One.

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 _THIRD PERSON POV_

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Caius Ballad, a God of the Underworld, and in his hobby time a psychotherapist, writer, historian and vision interpreter; he listened rather intently to young Miss Lockhart in front of him. He can see the elements already; a 'fucking' moody teenager with a lot of angst, sarcasm and a guilt complex. Any crime that was clearly not her fault was considered a 'sin' by her. She was so similar to two of his most rough cases, one Mr. Vincent Valentine and the other Mr. Kain Highwind. They were all so similar: guilt-ridden, burdened and always thought they will forever belong to their past.

But Miss Lockhart was much more promising. Once she sees that she is in a problem, a 'pickle', as she lightly puts them, she would find the most reasonable remedy within her reach and take it like a grain of salt. Her inherent problems being that she keeps her worries to herself, she is constantly afraid of her own honesty, resulting her being more dishonest with herself than others about her truest feelings, and she was by all means, selfless. And selfless people are often victims of their own care; they hardly leave any for themselves.

She was so worried at her future actions will cause other pains that she finds herself in a cruel spiral of running away from her problems. Now, at the girl is almost eighteen, a woman and she is considerably brighter than what she was last time he saw her. The girl still runs, but this time she runs and high-jumps with flair and she faces her inner demons rather than fight against them. Caius also likes the fact immensely the role of the gods are close to insignificant in her. He couldn't agree more with what she has to say about his kind; they are assholes. It amuses him. It amuses him that she is not afraid of him or his aura. She talks to him like he was any other person and that made him feel content. Miss Lockhart was only afraid of her personal demons.

But then again, who isn't?

He had been scribbling furiously in his notepad, slightly disappointed that Miss Lockhart had glossed over a lot of things. Actually her summary skills of her personal background was abysmal but and he filled out nearly eleven A4 size pages with her ramblings. Now to elaborate and organize this all chapter by chapter; Lockhart has only one thing left to do: uphold her promise.

Leaning back, Caius stretched his arm, feeling the strain of the muscle of his forearms. When she offered her Chapter One, he decided that she might be tired. She honestly looked a little tired. Truth was, Caius wanted her to take the day off and think deeply on how she wants to recount her first chapter to him. It is obvious that she does not want to recount with her place of birth. But he is a patient man and he will wait whenever she's ready.

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The day of her next session finally arrived as Lockhart arrived in his office, door closed shut and it was just the two of them in the soundproof walls. Anything she has to say stays here for sure. This time, he didn't have his pen and notepad. He never needed it anyway; the pen and notepad was just for show. Caius has photographic memory and he can type out everything that he has learned today within a few hours before he helps himself with a cup of ramen and go to bed.

 **"So, Tifa."**

 **"Caius,"** she replied back curtly as she took her seat in front of him and reclined back, feeling relaxed. This was good, she was ready to share, ready to tell him her story.

Smiling knowingly he nodded. **"I am most excited to hear Chapter One. Begin whenever you are ready,"** he implored encouragingly as he observed her bright reddish eyes dance with mirth and nostalgia.


	2. Departure With A Heavy Heart

**CHAPTER 2: DEPARTURE WITH A HEAVY HEART**

For the first time in several years, the city of Midgar witnessed graying skies and some showers during the day. Was it the work of the gods? And should it be taken as a warning? Nobody knows and it was a fleeting thought that quickly disappeared, letting the mind veer towards more pressing matters. Such as, 'I'm hungry, what should I have for lunch?' or 'Summer sure did pass quickly' or even 'Did I get laid last night?'.

Pressing matters indeed.

But for a certain girl living in Sector 7, the constant drizzle that made pattering sounds against the small window of her apartment reflected the way her heart felt. Red-tinted eyes cast a forlorn look at her meager belongings packed inside a single, worn backpack. She could have packed a proper suit case but her CID made her throw away all her hoodies. Her wardrobe was never much to begin with and even if she was once a mayor's daughter from a small village, she never felt wealthy. For the moment, she waited for her CID to come through the door.

The girl looked back outside the window, counting away the seconds. Her thoughts were everywhere and nowhere. For most of the past few days, the only sound that has haunted her mind was the sound of the constant beeping at the hospital where she last saw... her best friend. Her best friend was in hospital because of her. She was in intensive care. Tears threatened to gloss over the pair of reddish eyes that had looked so dried up and dead of all emotions; yet they threatened to resurface. The memories were painful and she was a coward.

Today, she was ready to run away but every step she took to distance herself from the 'prosperous' city, the heavier her heart felt. It was as if someone had placed a bowling ball inside her rib cage attached a rusty hook on her heart so that it can weigh her down. Even if she rolls away, she'll roll away with a lot of weight. Swallowing a rather large lump in her throat she willed the tears and the memories away with tremendous force so that the feeling in her heart will feel like a dull pain before it threatens to ache again.

Any second now Highwind was going to come through the door of her stale, shabby one-room apartment. Sliding off the narrow railing over her window, she lazily picked up her black blazer and slid her arms through the sleeves. The blazer didn't fit her very well and hid all the desirable curves. It was too big and loose with sleeves that covered more than half of her palms and the hem that should reach her waistline, threatened to reach her knees instead. But she forced herself to stand tall and look at herself in the mirror. She had to stand firm with this decision to leave. Many unfortunate events lead to this decision but it didn't help chase away the tremendous weight of guilt that gnawed away at her guts and it's only a matter of time the ugly feelings will spit out her emotional remains before it turns back into fodder. After deciding that while she may not the best looking person in the world, she resisted a shrug and turned away from the mirror to unceremoniously pick up her backpack and sling one nylon handle over her right shoulder. Her foggy mind finally cleared a little to make way thoughts for today's arrangement with her CID. She could easily imagine him coming through her door, with stray raindrops decorating his bulky shoulders and head, swearing a storm about the weather.

Speak of the devil, she heard the keys jingle haphazardly, as if Highwind was struggling to, in his words, get the god damn door open, so that he can come in. Before the girl forgot, she fished for the her keys in her pocket. Cid Highwind came in and just as she predicted, complained, **"God damn rainin' all over me. What the fuck is this shit going on in this blasted city? It's been fucking years I tell ya! Years since I last saw it rain in the middle of fucking summer. God damn!"**

Tifa shook her head at his antics and handed him the keys to the apartment as the apartment belongs to him. **"It's just a drizzle. Besides, it'll be easier to say goodbye to Midgar."**

Highwind looked at her with worry creasing across his face. He knows that sometimes saying goodbye is the hardest thing to do, but he could imagine that for this young girl's case, there are things in life that make it easy to look for a new home. One can only imagine the sort of turmoil that would put in the already versatile state of mind of a fifteen year old. But Highwind couldn't help but admire Tifa's resolution and respected her decision, even if it was probably one of the most difficult. He couldn't help but feel that it was the right one. The girl needed to meet some new people and be in a new friendly environment.

While Midgar was a great city, it was commercial, fast-paced and the people are just as rude as any and the road rage can be stuff of legends. Cities like this have always been home to the ruthless and ambitious alike. Only those who fully embrace the city life came to love it for _everything_. However, ever since a hotly baked economist, business men and politician by the name of R. B. Shinra came to power around three decades ago, things have turned a little grim. Crime became more rampant than ever, especially around the slums. But it never tarnished the grandeur of the city and can deceive anyone who came here looking to fulfill their dreams.

Tifa was already a very guarded individual when she came to this city but... now she was leaving with heavier thoughts in her mind.

Snatching the keys from her, Highwind sighed as he placed it into his pocket. **"Tifa. You've come along way. You were so cute when I found you little. Well... as cute as a total wreck can get."**

Tifa rolled her eyes and said, **"Gee, thanks Cid."** She wasn't really hurt by his comment. He knew her whole story with her... rather unusual relationship with her father back in Nibelheim.

 **"Look, what I'm trying to say is... are you sure? The moment you step in my car, it'll be too late. You can back out now. You can stay here, continue your studies... and you can-"**

 **"I made up my mind,"** Tifa interrupted quickly. There was a pregnant pause between them as they stood in front of each other in a gloomy apartment that gave an aura of somberness, or in better terms; an aura of something that probably died in here. " **I made up my mind..."** she whispered as she looked down at her feet. One step. And then two. And then three. And some more steps. **"I made up my mind,"** she repeated with trembling lips, **"Cid."**

The blond mechanic stepped forward slowly and gathered the young girl into a hug. There was a moment of silence, both praying that her best friend will open her eyes and wake up as soon as she can and what Tifa was doing was the right thing, even if she calls her decision cowardly. But Cid understood her decision and respected it with all his heart. He respected her decision so much that he called C. Raines and enlisted the case of Tifa Lockhart under very special priority. Because gods know that the girl deserved a break from all the Midgarian drama; drama that should be in bad television soap operas and not real life. Tifa refused to cry but she welcomed the comfort of Cid's hug. Swallowing that pestering lump of pain down her throat again, she found her voice to speak, **"We should go. Or we'll get late."**

Cid wordlessly let her go and they were lead out of the apartment. Tifa took one last quick glance at the place where Cid has been so kind enough to house her for two years without rent in his place. It wasn't much; but it was never unappreciated, even if it did look as though something died in there. And something did. A piece of Tifa that escaped through the many locks of her heart and didn't survive and became the dull thing that was anchored down like a weight while the rest of her heart still beat with dull repetitive thuds, the same beat as the beeps you would hear in that hospital bed...

The car ride was a very quiet one, except for the times Cid would incessantly swear at the fellow drivers to get moving when they hit themselves at a road rage. Fortunately, they found a shortcut to the train station using an underground tunnel. Without permission, Tifa turned on the radio and switched from one station to around and finally stop at a song that she felt really speaks of her right now. During the quiet moments, she would whisper along to the lyrics of the song the radio currently played, **"Forget the horror here... forget the horror here. Leave it all down there... its future rust then its future dust..."** She stopped singing along in the middle of the song as she wanted to swallow that lump, once again. It was no use. She knows that she will never forget it but she can never bring herself to burden another person with this. She is going to bury it down even if it ruins her taste buds. Suddenly her attention was brought away from the scenery of steel from the window when Cid asked a rather important question.

 **"Did you say goodbye to your friends?"**

 **"... They are not my friends anymore,"** Tifa replied lamely.

 **"..."** When Cid appeared stopped at the red traffic light he gave Tifa a sharp look, **"Shit Tifa you could have at least left a goodbye note! What have they ever done to you other than try to help?! Zack's skirt-chaser but I bet he's a good guy and a goofball! Cloud's a chocobo-ass-head but he was your childhood friend. Shit Tifa! You could've even told that thievin' Yuffie. Speakin' of which, how did you ever hide from the sneak? What if she found your acceptance letter? She could'a tattle-taled afted chewin' your head off! Damn! Really? Not even one word?! It's not like you're leavin' to die somewhere or some shit like that!"**

Tifa bristled visibly but didn't reply. She wanted to yell out so much, _'It's not for them to know! I don't want them to know! How the hell am I going to say what those three fucking brothers did to me? What they were doing for that sick bastard Hojo? How one too many people died because of the shit storm that had been happening in Midgarian-shit-hole-High-School when we were fucking thirteen years old? I don't want them to know. I wanted them to think I was fine. They were just supposed to know I was safe and fine. Fuck!'_

But instead she remained tight-lipped; she simply couldn't relive those moments. The only people who knew were Cid Highwind and now, Cid Raines. That is more than enough for her. At this point, Cid knew that there was no point yelling at her and grilling her for her moody behavior. Instead, he just exhaled a soundly sigh and rolled open a window. Then he took a cigarette and used the lighter in the car to light it, not paying a single heed to etiquette on asking a guest in one's car if they mind. Taking a long puff, he pressed the pedal at the green light and they moved forward. Once again, there was quietness. It was as if one ghost after another keeps passing by in between them whenever they fall silent.

 **"Tifa. When you leave, you're gonna leave with a chip on your shoulders."**

Tifa gave him a sideways glance, knowing that he was not yet done explaining, **"Class-Zero at Vermillion Academy, eh? Man, talk about finest of the finest, Tif! You must have worked hard at the risk of being a miserable son-of-a-bitch to get there! And with scholarship too! Wow!"**

 **"What are you trying to say, Cid?"** Tifa prompted, showing slight frustration at his evasiveness. It wasn't him at all.

Cid took a few seconds to finally get the word right, he knew that Tifa was... delicate. But he was never dishonest. **"I hear that Class-Zero is like a family. Everybody is each other's siblings. And you're going to be part of a new family. Isn't that what you wanted?"**

Tifa didn't dignify that with a response.

 **"Tif...?"** Cid beckoned, but received no answer. So he decided to lay it out there, **"The funny thing about family is, that for some people, it's with the people who are born in. And for others, it's the people you are willing to die for. So... what's family to you?"**

Tifa looked at him and opened her mouth but no words came out. The family she was born into was initially a happy one. But that got messed up after her mother died. And then it became non-existent very recently. She was orphaned and she doesn't plan on being adopted. **"Class-Zero are orphans,"** she suddenly realized and then it dawned onto her what this could mean. There will be people like her that she can really connect with. Her friend, Aerith... still has her mother, Ifalna Gast. Cloud still has his mother, Claudia Strife. Zack's parents are still in Gongaga and he's living with relatives. But that can't be the only reason why she shut them out of her life. She still had a father... till he finally kicked the bucket thanks to his bad lifestyle.

 **"Yeah. But they have parents who adopted them early on but were strict hard-asses with every intention to get them to Class-Zero. Some say that they had big plans for them, something militant, but the plans were quickly scrapped. Thank goodness for that. But, doesn't stop them from loving those kiddies like they were their own, even if they were hard-asses,"** Cid concluded with his nose scrunched up. **"But I understand you not wanting any parents. Most of them prefer small girls anyway but... Elmyra would have taken you in, you know."**

Tifa wanted to reply that she already had a set of parents and that was enough for her. She would have to learn to raise herself and from what Cid said, raise herself with Class-Zero now that she was about to take this new lease in life once she steps into Rubrum.

 **"I let Barret and Marlene know. I spent some time with them,"** she suddenly said.

 **"Oh. Good. That's good,"** he sighed and flicked the bum of his cigarette out the window as the car came to a halt. **"We're here."**

They got out of the car and entered the train station. Then they zipped through several winding hallways as Tifa successfully produced her ticket, scanning the details and following the arrows to the place she needs to go.

 **"Gate B... Gate B..."** she muttered each time she passed an arrow that pointed her towards the direction. Finally they find themselves climbing an escalator which will lead them to the floor that has Gates A to G. Now they just had to find the person that was assigned to pick her up. Tifa insisted that she could go alone but Cid would have none of it. There was also the fact that C. Raines agreed and backed up his argument. Tifa had been informed earlier that the person that will accompany her was Raines' best friend and works with him from time to time in the Council. Cid knows him and has a good impression of him and that was reassuring for the fifteen year old. She had been curious too, but she chose _now_ to ask. **"So, tell me about Rygdea... that's his name right? Sounds like a cowboy."**

 **"Hell yeah he's a bloody god damn cowboy and a good shot! Met in the ranches once. He's a good guy. Even if he is kinda pretty for a cowboy. You'll see what I mean. Think you'll like him. That's what you teenage gals are into these days, sparkly vampires and pretty boys,"** Cid remarked with a scrunched nose as Tifa found herself nearly smiling at his comment. She felt the quirk on the muscle of one corner of her lip as she gave Cid a sideways glance. **"I think you confuse us with twelve-year-old girls that are hopeless romantics... or just hopeless."**

They finally stopped at Gate B where she can see her Train Number AL3X4 which corresponded to her flight number 0015.

 **"Wait here. I bet Rygdea's bored out of his mind in the waiting lounge with the worst coffee he'd ever tasted,"** he grumbled as he made his way to the VIP waiting lounge. As Tifa waited, she took a look around her surroundings. She knew that she would find herself back here sometime soon but she thought she would be seeing this place, with better clothes and a fancier luggage after graduation. She didn't think she'd change schools this soon and with such circumstances. But life has a way of biting you in the ass when you least expect it. She would never want to leave like this. She cannot face her friends. It's too painful to say goodbye; she might not see them again. And they probably blame her. She blames herself even more than they ever would. But most of all, she is leaving behind a friend in need.

 _'Aerith needs me... but I'm going,_ ' she thought with much guilt.

However, she needed to help herself first. Midgar was hell and she needed to get out. She was doing something selfish and she knows it. But if she cannot save herself, then she cannot ever hope to save her friend. She wouldn't even be able to bring herself to pray, only despair more and more. Without the help of a psychotherapist or a god, she made this rushed decision and the wisest one she can think of. Her CID was more than enough help and the rest she would have to figure out on her own. Her problems were inherent and she knows it now more than ever... but she dreads the ways and hardships that she has to go through in order to sort them out.

Hearing the familiar footsteps of Cid's boots along with that distinct sound of cowboy boots she looked up to see Cid with a man that she assumed was the 'cowboy', Rygdea. He would definitely look the part of someone that owns a ranch. Rgydea was about five-feet-eight and was dressed in a dress shirt and pale blue jeans with a sleeveless vest and brown cowboy boots. A cowboy hat was the only thing that was missing from his attire but it allowed her to see his face fully; very airy long brown hair framed around his face and had a look that was always windblown and his face was slightly rugged by his chin beard that otherwise complimented his sharp look. If Tifa wasn't feeling the way she was, she would take the liberty to think that he was ruggedly handsome. If Aerith was here, she would poke her arm and giggle, then whisper to her ear on how good he is to look at. All her thoughts always goes back to the friend that she was going to abandon and she was perfectly sane while doing it. She couldn't hate herself more for this.

 **"This the girl, Highwind?"**

 **"How many god damn time did I tell you to call me Cid? Highwind's my old man. And my old man's old man. The list goes on! Shit."**

Ignoring his swearing, Rygdea brought out his arm to shake her hand, **"Howdy. I'm Rygdea. I'll be taking you to Palumpolum to meet Cid Raines' since that's where the Council is. Then a priority ticket will be arranged to take you to Rubrum directly. It'll be rough but can't be helped."**

 **"I think it's a fair arrangement. The sooner I get ready for Rubrum the better,"** Tifa declared. **"It's really nice to meet you, Rygdea. My CID just told me about you, said you're a good shot."**

 **"Well, ain't that uncharacteristically nice of him,"** Rygdea wryly remarked.

 **"Shut it, Ryg!"**

The familiar five-beat tune resonated through the walls of Midgar Station followed by a digitally voiced announcement. **"All aboard Flight Number 0015. The train due to leave in five minutes. All aboard Flight number 0015. Train due to leave in five minutes."**

 **"Well, that's our cue,"** said Rygdea.

Tifa took a large breath. One step. Then two steps. Then three more steps. And many more steps to go. It will be a long ordeal. But once the girl sets her mind to something, she will never give up.

 **"Tifa,"** Cid called. Tifa turned her attention to him. Then they exchanged one last heartfelt hug. Cid gave her shoulders an extra-reassuring squeeze and looked at her straight into the eyes; her CID is the only one who she can look into the eyes at times like this. She can't even do that to any of her friends for long. Eye contact was never a good thing for her. But with her CID, she felt reassured.

 **"Kid... everything will be alright. But only if you truly believe it,"** Cid advised as he let go. **"I'm not going to leave you alone after this. No, I'm going to keep watch of you. Doesn't matter if I am in Rocket Town or Palamecia or wherever the god damn place I gotta be. I will keep an eye out for you."**

Tifa blinked slowly as she absorbed his advice or at least tried to, but she is glad that this isn't the last of Cid.

 **"And you better keep in touch with little Marlene. You can do that right?"**

That is an arrangement that can be easily made. She looked up and nodded with fervor on that one. That put a smile on Cid's face as he thought, _'Well. It's an improvement. Now I won't say that I'm a total failure as a social worker.'_

 **"Flight 0015. Train will leave in four minutes."**

 **"Now get the hell outta here, kid!"**

Tifa lightly chuckled and bid him farewell following Rygdea to her train. She turned around one last time and waved Cid goodbye before she followed Rygdea into her train compartment. Cid would stay and keep watch of the train until it left and disappeared into the horizon.

 **"Flight 0015. Ready to go in one minute. All compartments are now closed. Passengers are required to take their designated seats. Flight 0015. Ready to go in one minute. All compartments are now closed. Passengers are required to take their designated seats."**

The motors of the train started to roll as the hydraulic power engines started releasing a sound similar to that of hot steam popping out of a train chimney only shorter and sharper. Finally the train conductor turned on the mic and announced, **"Ladies and gentleman, we are now ready for departure from Midgar Station to Palumpolum Station from 8:30AM till 12:45PM. Thank you for taking Midgar Trains. We hope you enjoy the journey."**

Tifa leaned her head against the window, hardly paying attention the conductor's flight etiquette. While she had to admit, the leader of the Council, Cid Raines, has everything thought out and more. As a social worker, he is incredibly generous. It may have to do with the fact that his family wealth is vast and he is the richest CID in the Council, and the more philanthropy he does, the more money he gets. He has arranged a first-class ticket for both Tifa and Rygdea, complimentary drinks included. When she talked with him once over the phone as she received his letter and train tickets, she was confused and asked him if he made a mistake. He just laughed it off and told her to consider it a congratulatory present for getting that scholarship to Vermillion Bird Academy. In some ways this was unfair. She didn't get to enjoy it fully other than the fact that the seats are spacious enough for her to brood next to the window.

* * *

From time to time Rygdea would observe Tifa from his peripheral vision, or even a sideways glance. She was a long legged girl, looks athletic, has the most beautiful long dark hair he's ever seen on a girl and he thought that this girl has the makings that will transform her into a beautiful woman with time. She will be breaking hearts one day and he already pities the boys of Midgar. But then again, he never liked Midgarians anyway. They were too uppity and snobbish when they had no reason to be and it was a city that came right out of a comic strip to him. But she didn't seem like she belonged at all in Midgar. She didn't have the city air around her. But her eyes, although they are beautiful red with flecks of amber in her irises, the amber does not shine through and the red at times looked like dried blood, as if something very heavy is weighing her down. He observed that during the train ride she would often hug herself and fidget with her silver locket that hung low in between her cleavage. The first hour was uneventful and so silent; the whole time she hasn't even found a way to distract herself. Normally teens like her would be ignoring the world while listening to music with their big headphones but not her. He didn't know that she didn't even have a phone and Cid Highwind would just give her his spare one from time to time. She just continued to look out the window.

They were getting further and further away from the mad Midgar weather and the graying clouds were left behind to leave room to a sunny and bright blue sky. A halo of rich copper-brown color shone on Tifa's silky hair as the sun illuminated her pale skin. Rygdea awkwardly tried to dispel the silence since he couldn't stand it anymore, **"Well. Finally looks like summer! Midgar must have some bad karma to get this damn weather in the middle of August, eh?"**

There was silence. _'Well, this is awkward. It's been a while since I've been a moody teen... and I was never this moody,'_ Rygdea thought. But he didn't give up. **"So, I heard you got a scholarship to VBA and into Class-Zero. That's pretty impressive. I would introduce you to my brother, if he wasn't such a damn womanizer. He could learn from you. Anyway, I bet you're excited to see Rubrum. Too bad you don't get to stick around Cocoon, it's really- Hey... are you okay?"**

Tifa turned to him and didn't know that she failed to swallow that lump of pain down her throat and instead let it finally seep out of her eyes in fresh salty tears. Rygdea doesn't have much experience with crying women but he knew that something was bothering her and he needed to calm her down and comfort her. With his callous thumb he brushed away her tears as she let out a whimper. She didn't as so much as flinch from his gesture as one would expect but she let out a sniff and a whimper. Her body was trembling, all telltale signs of a girl holding it in but now has reached her limit and was about to cry.

 **"Hey..."** he inquired with a gentle voice. He lifted the plastic lever that separated their seats and gathered the girl into his chest so that she can cry quietly into his chest and let it out. Highwind didn't tell him much other than the fact that she has been through things that a normal fifteen year old shouldn't have to go through. Then something about Midgar that has an effect on people; as if the city chews you in and then spits you out. It is a crude imagery but Highwind was never one for possessing poetic language. **"What did Cid say? It's going to be okay, but only if you believe it."** he echoed his advice softly as he stroked the trembling girl's back. He let her cry it out as she obviously had been bottling up her emotions; but for how long, he wondered. After a while, she gently peeled off of him looked around for a tissue. Rygdea expertly produced a handkerchief for her and she numbly took it to wipe her face. Then she apologized, **"Sorry... this is so embarrassing. I don't know what's wrong with me."**

 **"Nah... I get it. Moving's hard. You leave your friends behind and you have to make new friends, readjust to a new environment. But screw all that. You just gotta be you and if people don't like it, too bad. And stick with the people who stick with you."**

This conversation only made Tifa want to wilt away. Aerith never gave up on her and Tifa just kept on pushing her away with her stubbornness and now there is a big mess and instead of cleaning it up, she left it behind. She didn't even give Zack, Cloud or even Yuffie any sort of closure. At least things aren't like that with Barret and Marlene and she had promised to keep in touch with them.

 **"You keep looking out the window. What are you seeing?"** Rygdea asked.

 **"What I am leaving behind."** Tifa replied quietly.

 **"Want to try looking at your tomorrow. This train ride. It's like a ride of life. You can only go forward."**

 **"Yes. But when you take a train, you normally take a baggage. Mine's kind of heavy."**

 **"Regrets?"** Rygdea immediately supplied.

 **"Regrets,"** Tifa affirmed.

 **"Hmm... regrets... regrets. Yeah. That's baggage alright. But maybe in Rubrum, you'll find someone to carry it with you so that it becomes lighter,"** he advised. **"Everyone has a baggage. Some are too heavy to rest on your shoulders. And people aren't blind Tifa. They aren't. They can see people with their baggage and they only focus on their own, ignoring everybody else's. But then, there are people who see and offer to help out. Then it's up you to take the hand. You can say no, but that's only going to feel heavier each time. Or, you could say yes, take the helping hand. Then throw the baggage into the ocean out there."** he cocked his chin to incline the ocean they were passing through as they were soon going to go through Gran Pulse. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. The sun was so bright that its light shown over the ripples of the ocean; it looked like it was raining golden coins. Looking at it gave Tifa a sense of ease when she realized that she needed that cry. Of course, it was still embarrassing to cry in front of a stranger. And it was kind of awkward... but comforting to talk like this with a stranger. She wanted to argue some more points. In her mind she already has, _'What if the baggage is too heavy and it'll break an arm? What if it's not worth it? What if I get rejected once I let myself be bare to a new friend? I can't think about making new friends. I want to be friendly with people. But... I'm not ready to be friends with people. I've been a horrible friend to four people already. I don't want to be a horrible friend again. I dont' want to hurt others. But... I do want to know what it's like to hold someone's hand again as I walk side by side. I don't want to be lonely. I've been lonely for too long. And that's my fault. But I'm scared. I dread tomorrow. I know I'm doing this for myself and for the love of Gaia this self-imposed change of scenery better be worth it.'_

Instead she opted to reply, **"Maybe you're right. I'll give this a try in Rubrum."**

She wasn't sure if she even convinced Rygdea if she's going to take his advice to heart but she is willing to take the risk again. She may have not said goodbye to her friends back in Midgar but that was because... she didn't want to. She wants to see them again when she gets better, when she finds herself and finally show them who she really was. And maybe they'll forgive her and accept her. And maybe Aerith will wake up and see this new and improved wreck called Tifa Lockhart and not some bullied girl people liked to call 'Tofu Lockbitch'.

Rygdea was a pleasant guy to talk to and the awkwardness in the atmosphere faded into non-existence. She carefully avoided any subjects regarding Midgar or her life in Nibelheim. But she was enamored by Rygdea's adventures with Cid Raines and his service in the Guardian Corp before he finally decided to become a mercenary with the notorious Balthier where they collect relics and treasures that are impossible to retrieve, and sometimes, do dangerous things like play chess with gods. Then he talks about the festivities in Cocoon, the beauty of Gran Pulse, the game hunting he and his brother enjoys so much. She learned that his brother's name was Irvine. Overall, the train journey was pleasant.

But even with the newly formed pleasantness in the atmosphere, she couldn't help but think about Aerith. And she prayed, _'Aerith. If you wake up today, you'll notice that I left Midgar already. I pray that you wake up today. Every day I pray that you wake up. If not, then I hope you're having an out of body spirit following me around, seeing how I feel about this. I am leaving with a very heavy heart. I miss you already. I miss everyone. But I will never say goodbye to you. I am going to ask Raines, my current CID if it is possible for me to visit you each month. I'm sure he'll agree. Aerith, I got accepted to VBA Class-Zero with scholarship. What would you have me do? I feel guilty. But I know you'll want me to push forward and do my best. And that's what I'll do. I'll do that, just for you.'_

The mic turned on and the conductor announced, **"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have now arrived at Palumpolum Station. Thank you for taking this flight and we hope you had a pleasant journey."**

* * *

A/N: So I posted my second chapter which was longer than I thought but I hope it still builds anticipation. I can't wait to write the next chapter because that's when she's . Oh spoiler alert. Anyway, the main focus will be on Class-zero characters and Tifa building her friendships with them and finally cope with whatever is going on with her. Yesterday I spent all day scribbling notes and figuring out how all these vast number of characters are going to connect with Tifa being the center of it all as she is the main character of this fanfiction. Class-Zero is given on the FF Type-0 side but you'll be surprised what I have in store on the FF7 side of things and the kind of group she'll be in regular contact with there. So stay tuned. And **JammyWammy** thank you so much for your first review! I am glad that you are enthusiastic about this story!

 **EDIT** :: Thank you so much **Switchback** for your wonderful review and encouragement!

 **EDIT 2:** Again Whimsical Rhapsody thank you so much for your detailed review and reminding me that some of my sentence structures are awkward. I fixed them and I hope they are better now. I also went through the tense and I feel more and more satisfied ^^

 **DISCLAIMERS: All characters and location names mentioned in this chapter are property of Square Enix. Thank you.**

 **The song mentioned in this fanfiction is property of FOALS and the song is called _Spanish Sahara_.**

 **UPDATE: Sorry if you see this chapter re-posted, its just that there were a lot of tiny errors like spelling and missing words that irked me and I wanted to get it out of the way.**


	3. The Sexiest CID In History

**CHAPTER THREE: THE SEXIEST CID IN HISTORY**

It was past midnight and the streets of Midgar are far from asleep. But even Midgar can afford to have a nice quiet place such as the hospital that was away from the slums. Two people observed the scenario that folded in front of them as they each took a seat in the waiting room. They needed someone to leave so that they can take the opportunity to pay a visit. Of course, they can just wrap themselves in the magic of invisibility but they both agreed to play human for a bit. Finally, after what seemed several hours of waiting, the woman they had waited to vacate the hospital came to the waiting area. She was a slender and beautiful woman, with emerald green eyes that had lost its vibrancy from crying. Yes, the two 'people' had heard her prayers. They had heard each and every one of her prayers and almost felt that their ears are bleeding from her desperate cries.

It cannot be helped.

They are Gods; and one of them has a serious knack for complaining like a frustrated housewife or a nagging teenage girl.

The secretary at the welcome desk looked up and quietly said, **"Goodnight Ifalna."** The secretary expressed much sympathy for she cannot imagine what the woman must be going through right now.

Ifalna nodded back tiredly at her best friend and said, **"Goodnight Elmyra. I'll come back tomorrow,"** and left the building.

 _'Finally!'_ said one of the two, while they were communicating telepathically. The magic of invisibility was activated and the secretary cannot see them or hear them. They are gods. _'Cosmos, you had better make this little game of yours worth it because I am sick of it. Humans and their attachment to things and this thing you call emotion and love... why did you bring me here anyway?!'_

Cosmos, who sported the form of a blue eyed woman wearing a white designer-made office wear and held her hair in an elegant bun, gave her partner a cross look. Her ice blue eyes hardened intentionally for it was the only way to get him to his knees and grovel at her feet if he treasures her company and love so much. _'We have an urgent matter at hand. Sure, the humans are not our responsibility anymore. But that doesn't mean we can't do nothing and sit still when there is a young girl that is throwing away her potential simply because she has trouble trusting others and lack the knowledge of having a real family. That blasted tornado really threw a wrench into things. But... maybe, just maybe everything happens for a reason. We cannot control the forces of nature on Gaia but we can endure.'_

Chaos stayed quiet for a moment. He had the appearance of an imposing man that sported a menacing look in his eyes; when you look at him, you know that he is always up to know good. His hair was long and wavy and had a gradient coloring that goes between black to red and they always seem to float around his head, as if the locks of hair at a mind of its own to defy gravity. Unlike Cosmos' very formal attire, he wore a cotton shirt with ripped sleeves for style and black leather pants with several belts. He took his style from a certain gunman whom he had possessed for a while before returning him to catatonic sleep of the damned. Cosmos didn't approve of that but the man was a guilt ridden nuisance and a pain. He was glad to be free of him.

Cosmos got up from her seat to head towards a certain hospital bed and Chaos followed suit.

It was full moon tonight and gentle moonlight shone on the clear face of a girl who looked so much like the woman named Ifalna that had just left the building. **"Hello, Aerith,"** Cosmos whispered and she pushed the door opened to let the two gods enter. Cosmos had the power to heal her but she was hesitant. Aerith's brain has already been healed from the trauma she suffered from Nibelheim and she was very much alive. But her sleep was so deep that that the monitor looks as though she is phasing in between life and death. Chaos sighed and said, **"Why don't you wake up the girl? This isn't my specialty. I answer prayers of vengeance. And this Era of Academics isn't exactly good for me right now. Not that I care."**

 **"I am not waking her up because I am waiting."**

 **"Yes. For some bitch that goes, 'oh woe be me. I am suffering all alone and I cannot tell my friends about it, for shame they may hate me forever and leave me all alone to fend myself' and blah-blah-blah".**

 **"Chaos!"** Cosmos seethed, appalled at his insensitivity, something that hasn't changed over the centuries. But she knows that he's mellowed down a lot in his villainous ways and is actually very perceptive when he wants to be. **"Her name is Tifa Lockhart. Not Bitch. Or any derogatory name you have to offer in your long list of vulgar words,"** she shuddered.

 **"I mean come on. The one that really needs a big fucking wake-up call is the one that took the train to Rubrum, when Aerith, bless her heart, needs her the most."**

 **"Tifa is stubborn and had wanted to get away from Midgar for a long time. Once she puts her mind to something, she will do everything to complete it. Besides, Tifa feels guilty enough to want to pay a visit to her from time to time."**

 **"How do you know that?"**

 **"I can feel it,"** she replied, **"I can feel her pain and her remorse. You can't feel anything your on end because she hasn't shown a single ounce of a vengeful bone in her body. I'm sure there were temptations..."**

 **"Sometimes I wonder what all that martial arts lessons are for if she isn't going to use it."**

They both looked at the girl concerned and Cosmos placed her cool hand over Aerith's head and closed her eyes. She can hear Aerith's prayers and most of them centered on Tifa. She made out the words, _'Please... please let Tifa be happy.'_ Prayers is a very tricky job for gods with limited powers. People ignore them these days and the gods prefer it like that. Some gods have integrated to human society so well that they act and feel more human and forget all about their immortality.

But they will never die. They can only observe.

Cosmos and Chaos are powerful enough to volunteer. Tifa's case is not an easy one. If she is to find happiness, she has to learn to open herself up. Cosmos cannot do that for her. She doesn't possess the key to Tifa's heart. She can only keep Aerith alive. This time, in Aerith's sleep, Aerith will be able to feel what Tifa feels and the moment Tifa feels happiness and camaraderie, the moment she feels that Tifa will wake up from her pity party, Aerith will wake up from her coma. Tifa's decision to leave Midgar was a good one. There was a theory among humans that if the visions are too much to handle, then the further you leave the setting where your 'vision' took place, the more likely they will heal. It is a shame that Tifa refuses to see any god or vision therapist, but she will never be the only one that thinks very little of them either.

 **"Let's hope that Tifa is on the right track, Aerith. I... have a good feeling about this. In the meantime, I need you to sleep."**

 **"What if Tifa never wakes up from her inner darkness? What if she gives up?" Chaos asked.**

 **"I will not let that happen. Besides, Tifa is a survivor. There is a strong spirit of a warrior in her. She is going to constantly think of Aerith, feel guilty, but at the same time, she will consider what Aerith would want. This is all I can do for now."**

 **"That still doesn't explain why you brought me here."**

That's when the Goddess gave Chaos a malicious grin. Chaos paled visibly and backed away. **"No. Not again. You know I have a weakness for gambling!"**

 **"If Tifa doesn't make a close friend within the first month... I'll be your love slave,"** She purred seductively as she pushed herself away from Aerith's hospital bed and cat walked towards her demonic lover as his eyes gleamed with interest. She traced an index finger in lazy circles on his broad chest and continued, **"But if I win. YOU owe me a week's worth of shopping."**

Chaos knew immediately that he was screwed.

* * *

 **"Here we are. The country of Cocoon. Capital City: Eden. Which I hope you'll get to see soon. This is Palumpolum city. Beautiful isn't it?"** Rygdea grinned as he took in Tifa's reaction.

Tifa's eyes wandered around everywhere as she absorbed the sights. Cocoon is the most beautiful country in the world. She has seen the pictures in her geography classes but they hardly did any justice now that she was in the capital city of Eden. It must also be a very expensive place to live. The atmosphere was very festive and the people seemed busy, but not the kind of busy she witnessed in Midgar.

There were holograms of jellyfish and colorful tropical fish that 'swam' across some of the shiniest buildings she has ever seen. A lot of them looked as though their entire body was made of the smooth surface of smart computers or touch screens and they would gleam under the sunlight. The weather was drastically the complete opposite of what she had just witnessed in Midgar; sunny with bright skies and not a single patch of cloud in the sky.

The air in Midgar is suffocating but something one would get used to if you lived there long enough and here, even though they are in a metropolis, the air is crisp and clean. Even the artistic statues of modern art were very glossy and the people dressed in a more colorful fashion. In Midgar people's dress were rather drab and sported somber colors and their jackets or coats would mostly range between grey, black or beige. However, it is as though in Cocoon people are expected to be fashion conscious and dressing well was part of character.

Tifa felt rather ugly and dull when she looked at the people.

 **"Let's go Tifa. We don't want to keep Cid waiting. Uh. Raines. We don't want to keep Raines waiting,"** he amended as he winked at Tifa. Tifa took off her vest and quickly shoved it quickly in her bag. That vest will not do if she was to walk around in Eden looking drab and she doesn't want to give her new CID the wrong kind of impression either. Anyone can get away with wearing a plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans no matter which city you go to so she felt much more reassured.

They approached a building with the most bizarre yet attractive architecture she has ever seen. It wasn't tall like the glossy sky scrapers in the neighborhood but it was shaped like giant bubble with an oval shaped hole at the corner that didn't deter the smoothness of the look. At first she thought it was some strange monument with Cocoon showing off their architectural skills but Tifa learned that they have every right to show it off. The big glass bubble looked as though it was completely made of glass tinted with blue and gradient violet so that it really imitates an actual soap bubble and it sat on top of a platform that looked like the frontal lobe of a warship but with smoother contours. That part of the building was white all around with grey tinted windows and was so shiny that it looked like plastic rather than metal. The front door at typical revolving doors that she would see in Midgarian office buildings or hotels but again the coloring was odd and each glass pane of the door seemed to be lined with a dimly lit rod that upon closer look she saw that it was neon lights, the bulbs are heat proof and weather proof so that you won't burn. As for the finishing touch the words 'Council of Intelligence and Duty' were orbiting around the giant glass bubble in their holographic glory.

 _'Just how much electricity does this country waste? Do they even have a saving plan?! How do they do these stuff? If Midgar is a modern city then this place is futuristic.'_

Taking a deep breath, she knew that she didn't really come here for sightseeing and followed Rygdea into the building. The inside was just as glossy as the outsides with chandeliers that look as though they have been curved out of glass with tiny flickering blue flames over the candle sticks that she knew were obviously the magic of holography. Rygdea's steps sounded sharp and precise against the marble floors while hers sound muffled and uncertain. _'Here we go. One step. Two steps. Three steps and many more to go,'_ she said as she made it her personal motto. It didn't even sound very cool out loud but it does the trick to keep her walking forward.

The security here was also rather different than she would expect for an office that hosts social workers. Of course, they do much more than philanthropy and the CIDs started off as pilots and ex-commanders of huge armies that wanted to make a difference to the world and make human lives better. They knew that there was much unhappiness around the world and they dedicated their lives to fixing it. It is said that they were the ones responsible for this Era of Academics, a worldwide phenomenon where education and physical well-being is encouraged onto the people actively. But only Cocoon remained the perfect example of a flourishing welfare state. It would take time for others to follow.

Regarding the security they had to take out their ID cards and passports, tell them of their appointment and then one of the persons at the welcome desk would have to press a push button to unlock the futuristic turnstile to let them through.

 _'Geez, even those tiny gate thingies are made of plastic glass, steel and pretty lights... and what are those doing here? I thought they only exist in the subway?'_

Cocoon city was definitely a hot spot for tourists with good reason. This is the perfect place if you want to experience a near-futuristic lifestyle with holographic advertisements, strange architecture, contemporary art posing as monuments, wearable technology and much more. She couldn't blame her former maths teacher, Mr. Tuesti for leaving Midgar but she doubted that she would meet him any time soon here. Cocoon was a big place.

In the elevator, Rygdea pressed for the top floor and as they got up she can see that they are going up into the bubble of the building ridiculously excited her. She looked down and saw the top of the building that looked like the frontal lobe of a ship and saw that it was a platform for helicopters to land. Raising her eyebrows, she couldn't help but feel impressed by the Council. They are no joke and they truly do strive their best and if something goes terribly wrong, they will go out of their way to make things right; even if it means taking the trouble to board a helicopter, travel across the globe just to pick up someone who is in a delicate position.

 **"Rygdea. I thought at first that social worker agencies were a total joke but the Council is something to behold."**

Rygdea smiled at her comment, almost taking it as a compliment because this was the work of his best friend. **"I'm glad you think so. Of course, the rest is up to you. The Council can help you only so much but if you listen well to their advice, I'm sure you'll do fine. I don't know what you went through but whatever it is... I can tell it's hurtful. It's also been a while since one CID had to pass his mission to another CID, especially Highwind to Raines... so if it means anything to you, I hope you'll be okay."**

Tifa knew that Rygdea was sincere in his words and looked up at him with a small smile, **"Thank you. And I hope so too."**

Leaning back against the elevator she sighed and gulped down a bit (she seemed to do that quiet often) as she was feeling nervous. The elevator halted with a pleasant ' _ding_ ' sound and the doors slid open to reveal a long corridor lined with the portraits of each leader of the Council. They both stepped out and Tifa felt that the corridor couldn't be any longer as it seemed to curve along the shape of the bubble before they finally reached Raines' office. She paused slightly to look at the portrait of a man which was labelled 'C. Raines' and felt her heart falter. He held a very reagal aura and had an air of leadership and confidence, much like all the other CIDs but he was also the most handsome CID compared to the rest of the portraits.

 _'_ _This is ridiculous. Palumpolum has been so ridiculously cool that I don't know if I should laugh or shrink somewhere,'_ Tifa thought as she continued to follow the cowboy. Rygdea reached out his finger to press the button of the intercom but paused to turn his face back to Tifa. **"And Tifa. Don't be nervous around Raines. He's a gentleman and very helpful, and a lot friendlier than he looks,"** then he added with a crooked smile, **"A lot of women like him."**

Tifa rolled his eyes but caught herself with a small sardonic smile that says she agrees with him.

Rygdea held down the button for a moment until they heard a familiar click and Raines' voice was heard from the other side of the line, **"Rygdea?"**

 **"That's me alright. And I brought Tifa Lockhart with me too,"** he confirmed.

 **"Very good, be right there in a sec,"** and with another click the tiny cyan light of the intercom turned neon red and the door to his office slid open to reveal the man behind the Council operations.

That portrait could only do so much justice.

Before her stood before her what appears to be a man in his late twenties with silky, feathery black hair that framed nicely around his finely curved face and a pair of intelligent grey eyes. He also sported a much more casual look than the regal military outfit that he donned in the portrait. He wore royal blue dress shirt coupled with an ivory colored silk tie that hung slightly loose around the collar as he had the first two buttons of his buttons. He also wore a pair of slim-fit dress pants that matched the color of his tie, tucked inside a pair of combat boots instead of formal leather shoes that the rich men of Midgar tend to wear with this sort of outfit. She supposed that old habits die hard, especially for ex-military men. But she couldn't deny that he was good looking enough to go under the category 'the case of instant-ovary-explosion'. But this was the man that Highwind transferred her case to and she forced herself to dispel all sorts of awkward feelings that was bubbling up inside her. He was Cid Raines, of course. She had every intention to be all business more or less.

But soon she would find out that she can afford to relax around him.

 **"Ahem… you're staring,"** Raines remarked.

Instantly she woke up from her reverie and her face blushed into a shade of red that made him chuckle. **"Do I make you uncomfortable?"** he asked.

Sighing, Tifa thought, _'It really is rude to ask questions when you already know the answers.'_ She became mildly aware that she is easy to tease. Formulating an answer that was honest without being too blunt, she said, **"To be honest… I kind of expected someone older. So I'm a little surprised."**

 _'As in much older. With wrinkles. And eyes that looked like it had it just had cataract removal surgery. And some grey hairs, maybe a bald spot somewhere. Not someone that looks like sex on legs,'_ she added in her mind. She knew she was flustering and she really didn't know what or how to think of all of this. Not to mention, the timing was inappropriate. She wished there was a giant hole underneath her feet to swallow her whole. She can practically feel Rygdea's smirk and Raines' shoulders shaking with laughter.

 **"Thank you for what I assume is a compliment,"** he smirked, **"But I'm actually much older than you think, young miss. I bet by the time I'm thirty five, I'll finally get used to the idea of being in my thirties."**

 _'Holy shit! It must be the magic of modern Cocoon medicine. I bet sixty is the new thirty around here.'_ Tifa internally thought he should at least be in his early twenties.

However, Tifa quickly schooled her face into a neutral one (though sporting a weak smile for the sake of politeness) as she muttered, **"I see,"** and commented no further.

 **"Why don't you come in?"** Raines inclined his head into his office. Rygdea gave Tifa a gentle pat on the back and said, **"See ya later, kiddo,"** and left.

 **"Sure,"** she said and followed suit into the office as Raines closed the sliding door after Rygdea's retreating form.

Raines' office was large and almost looked as though it was a hybrid between a posh apartment and expensive office which was oddly comfortable. The carpet was dark blue in color and the furniture was fine leather sporting the colors of light blue and black. There was a large conference room behind dark grey tinted glass panes to her right and inside it she can make out the shape of a typical oval table surrounded by revolving egg-shaped chairs. And further down the hall there was a solitary door that was slightly slid open and she can make out a table and a revolving chair that wasn't egg shaped and a shiny white laptop.

 **"Take a seat,"** Raines offered, **"Would you like some coffee?"**

Tifa soundless shook her head as she sat down on the couch and smoothly slid her backpack off her shoulder and placed it near the leg of a low table in front of the couch. She pressed her knees tightly together and took great interest in the dark blue carpeted floor as she clasped her hands on her lap.

Raines observed that she took the pose of someone very shy and intimidated, perhaps even feeling an inferiority complex. He wasn't surprised, it wasn't the first time when a case from Midgar came in feeling the same thing but he was not one to compare cities against each other. He simply considered every city to be different. But he was also very concerned for the girl that was readying herself for his counselling services. She was a very pretty girl and he can already see that she would grow up into a gorgeous young woman; but for that to happen, she would have to change her brooding disposition to a brighter one.

When Raines viewed his case and saw the emergency of her situation, he felt that it was fate that lead Tifa to him and he felt most obliged to help this girl in any way he can. While military tactics, civics and administration may have been his first love he felt that social welfare was his true calling and it fed his benevolent nature. His heart ached for the sufferings of this girl who had lost her home and possibly a very important friend. He shifted towards his office but thought better of it and decided to just sit on the couch next to Tifa. The first priority he wanted to accomplish was to put her at ease; dispel all signs of nervousness.

Tifa looked up at him and showed a hint of confusion before quickly dispelling it from her face to maintain her signature neutral look that held the perpetual moody atmosphere in her eyes. She had expected him to get out some paperwork but he seemed to just want to talk to her for a bit. Before she could ask herself what he was up to, he interrupted her thoughts, **"So, how was your journey? Are you exhausted?"** he asked. It was a solid conversation starter.

But this was Tifa, **"It was lovely, thank you."**

There was some silence. She looked at him and he always looked at her in the eyes. It was almost like a game of who would crack first but there is no humor in it and this was not a staring contest. Eventually she had to look away. She was never fond of looking at someone in the eye. This did not go amiss to Raines who was experienced when dealing with people who are more reserved.

 **"I got to see Gran Pulse out the window,"** she added hesitantly, **"And I found it beautiful and scenic."**

Raines' smiled, he was finally going somewhere. If he remembered from the phone call earlier from Rygdea (taken behind Tifa's back), Tifa had a small emotional breakdown in the train before Rygdea did whatever miraculous deed he could do to calm her down. But he was not going to prod about that. So he continued with his strategy, **"And how do you find Cocoon so far? It's a shame you don't get to see the sights."**

 _'I'm on business,'_ Tifa thought sourly, even if it was a shame, she was really not in the mood of tourism. She wants to see the world with her friends, with Aerith. But instead of voicing her feelings at this instant she opted for a more diplomatic answer, **"I'm just very anxious to get to Rubrum. But I found Cocoon to be futuristic and beautiful; more beautiful than… Midgar."**

The slight tone of distaste when she uttered the name of the giant metropolis didn't go amiss from Raines. **"Maybe next time, you can come and pay a real visit to Cocoon. But I understand that you are here on business,"** he sighed, almost fearing that he wasn't getting anywhere. But he won't give up and Highwind has high hopes for her. If she is intelligent enough to land herself in VBA's Class Zero, then so does he. **"Tifa,"** he brought out her attention, **"Can I bore you with what my organization does?"**

Tifa blinked at him, wondering where this conversation is going to go but didn't deny him the pleasure of 'boring' her as he put it.

 **"The Council of Intelligence and Duty. C.I.D. Do you know why we are called that?"**

Tifa thought carefully for a bit before formulating a smart answer, **"Because C.I.D was the fastest technology developer. What started out as an organization to protect engineers and mechanics has turned into a business tycoon that fabricated military weapons, ships, airships and all types of vehicles. Then they slowly started working on technology for the people, making their lives easier with super computers and smart technology. Hence the intelligence part. Then with the use of their massive profits and technology, they created a continental wide social welfare system, which works perfectly in Cocoon and became exemplary around the globe and are currently trying to help others build a social welfare system. Hence they perform a duty to the people."**

It was obvious that Tifa was a smart girl that does her homework thoroughly, but the way she answered was too 'correct', like a robot. This was just the first impression but Raines was already listing his case's character traits, more specifically her personality 'flaws'. He doesn't blame her for being the way she was but she wasn't under the protection of the Council for no reason either. **"If you were to write that answer in your civics exam, you would get an A-plus,"** he responded with a wry smile. **"And you are right. But there is more to the 'Duty' part of the Council. It is my personal vision. Tell me Tifa, instead of completing your high school years in Midgar High, why did you chose this sudden transition? How did you get your scholarship?"**

Tifa was a bit surprised that he asked this question. Did he not read her file? But maybe he wanted to hear it from her mouth and not the things that one has to write in an official report.

 **"You know, I was once a student in VBA. With scholarship,"** he continued as he reminisced those days, **"I was Class-Zero as well and when I look back, I say those were some good old days. I loved studying and I still do. It's a great school Tifa and I _am_ proud of you. I suppose I should say congratulations on your scholarship. It's nice to see a student who is like myself."**

Tifa was surprised at this new piece of information and visibly relaxed. Maybe she can get the courage to tell him. Taking a deep breath she answered, **"The atmosphere in Midgar High was getting too poisonous. So I felt that I needed a change of scenery."**

That wasn't the whole answer and Raines' knew it. If they had to play the silent game again, then he will. Because then it obliges Tifa to surrender and continue. **"Like you, I like to study. And I like sports too. But lately, I didn't enjoy it much because of the poisonous atmosphere and school bullying. So I studied like mad out of desperation. I never found it difficult to study and I had always been good at it; but this desperation was awful. Anyhow, I am glad that episode is over with and now I hope that I can study out of enjoyment rather than desperation."**

 **"I see. And how do you plan to enjoy studying again?"**

Tifa didn't know how to answer that. Her brows furrowed as she wracked deep in her brain to answer that. _'How do I plan to enjoy studying? I mean school bullying can happen anywhere and I came this far too. So it's not like I can change schools again if something happens. I… I would have to change my attitude. I would have to be friendlier, more cheerful. But I don't want to be fake. I want to care about others more and be sensitive to people's problems. If I had been kinder to Aerith, then maybe she wouldn't be in that hospital bed. I… I need to make friends again.'_

When the realization dawned on her, she felt dread and her shoulders slightly shook. Swallowing a lump she said, **"Raines. I want to change into a better person. I heard that VBA had school uniforms and discipline. That's why I worked so hard for the admission. I don't plan to take it easy in my studying. I want to work hard. I'm used to working hard and keeping myself busy. But I don't know if it's enough for VBA... or anywhere, really."**

Raines leaned his face against his knuckles with his elbows propped onto the head of the couch that he leaned his upper body on. **"That's a very good personal ambition, Tifa. Thank you for sharing this with me."**

Tifa flinched at that and wondered if she had been tricked somehow but she can't tell what she has been tricked into and simply shook the idea out of her head.

 **"And I want you to share with me things like this. I want you to share with me what's bothering you; what your dreams are… and how you hope to cope with your regrets,"** he finished, finally feeling confident enough to address the heart of her problems and he was right to feel confident as he is getting her full attention. Her eyes looked very interested and eager for his help now than she had been before. She still showed some level of apprehension but she let him in through some of her carefully construct walls.

 **"It's a help-me-help-you kind of deal,"** he explained, **"You may have not come to us initially yet you demanded help and help you shall get. But I need to know you on a personal level if you want me to do my job for you Tifa. There is only so much I can do and believe me, I will do my very best. But you have to do your part, whatever that may be. Do you understand?"**

Tifa nodded quietly. Raines felt somewhat reassured that this was going to work, even if it was going to be slow. At times, when interacting with her, it felt as though she was afraid to talk, even to say the simplest of words like 'yes' but her body language speaks volumes even when she tries to be subtle. So perhaps for her, words aren't the only way to convey your feelings.

 **"Good. Now, let's begin by getting rid of the administrative things. You'll find out soon enough that there are some interesting perks to being protected by the richest and most well-connected CID here,"** he playfully boasted as he got up and made his way to his office. This perked her curiosity as she watched his retreating form disappear into the office and she watched intently. The door was always kept partially open so she can see his body going from left to right, probably shuffling about some files.

She craned her back further to look closely into the office room and felt silly but she couldn't help it. She caught him holding a well-stacked folder under his arm and with his other hand she took off the screen off the laptop and she knew that he possessed a hybrid laptop; one where you can detach the screen from the keyboard, effectively turning it into a touch screen and leaned back when she saw his form ready to come out of his office and sit next to her again.

He gently set his touch screen tablet onto the table in front of them and placed the royal blue folder on his lap. She wondered if he has a thing for blue. **"I have some special surprises for you and I will explain you all this paperwork one at a time. It's much simpler than it looks. First off, you are going to get your own personal wallet,"** he demonstrated as he picked up the first thing from the files were two very slim wallets: one black and blue and the other red and blue. **"Do you want the blue or red?"** he inquired as he picked them both up for her to see.

 **"Red one,"** she smiled, not that she didn't like blue. She loves blue but the symbolic colors of VBA were red, black and white and she wanted to start adjusting to it already.

Raines gave a look of mock disappointed as he opened the blue wallet and brought out two cards and what looked to be a total of 500 Gil. Tossing the blue and black wallet onto the table next to his tablet, shoved the five 100-Gil bills into the wallet and picked up the two cards to show to her. **"This is your very own debit card linked to our funds. Every month the Council will wire 200 Gil in your account. Because this is a very unique card, you can draw out cash from any cash machine without additional fee. And this card is contains your temporary social security number. This number is valid until you are eighteen under the rules and regulations of the Council. Afterwards you are going to have to come to Cocoon or go to Midgar if you want to attain a permanent social security number. I suggest you come to Cocoon for that because I will gladly help you."**

 _'Rygdea was right. Raines is really nice…'_

As if reading her mind, Raines smiled at her as he slipped the two cards into her new wallet and said, **"I hope you aren't overwhelmed, it is very administrative. If you get lost, do not be afraid to ask me to repeat and explain."**

 **"Sure,"** she nodded, knowing that she can trust him. He's really looking out for her and the monthly money he is giving her is quiet enough. He went on further to explain the several different types of attestations like domestic attestation, protection of the Council attestation, etc. There were also two contracts that he pulled out and he had her sign them both and kept one for himself and placed her own personal copy in her folder. He also had her sign an electronic copy on his tablet where he handed her his stylus pen. Again, she was reminded of how ridiculously advanced Cocoon was. Midgar has the potential but for some reason all the 'cool shit' go to the filthy rich.

 **"… and this paper tells you details of your room and board. Unlike last time, you will not be living alone due to security reasons. Rubrum is a safe place, much safer than Midgar. The name of your roommate if Felicia Verdot."**

Tifa was a little confused at this and asked, **"Wait. VBA is a boarding school. Why do I need a domestic address…?"**

 **"Think about it. Where will you live when school closes for the holidays?"**

 **"Oh. Right. Sorry,"** she apologized unnecessarily, mentally berating herself for being a little slow in the head.

Raines didn't own any property to lend for free in Rubrum since he was already donating significant amount of money to VBA. But even if he did, he wouldn't leave Tifa alone to fend for herself during her days off and would immediately find a suitable roommate through thorough profiling He was confident that Tifa will get along with Miss Verdot... he wondered if she realized just who exactly she was going to stay with yet but she seemed more concerned about the lengthy due process.

To put her at immediate ease Raines continued, **"You'll be quiet pleased with the location of the place. It is two minutes away from the tram station. And the trams in Rubrum are very chic. Speaking of which, here is another card that you have to keep in your wallet."** He took out a sheet of paper that had details of the purchase and the card that was stuck to the paper with in temporary glue. He pulled off the card easily, tossed the proof of purchase on the table and slipped the card into her sleek new wallet. **"This card is called Rubrum Public Transport Pass, RPTP for short, and takes you to all the zones in Rubrum. You can take the underground subway, the autobus and tram. At a normal tariff, one has to recharge it monthly but since you are a minor and a student, you get a special deal. Each year you will have to go to the Internet or ask the school staff to fill out a form for you in order to recharge your Rubrum pass. Make sure you do that a month's ahead of time. If you fill the form out by internet you get an e-mail in about, say, twenty days confirming the recharge and if your school does it for you, they receive a letter and pass it on to you. They will ask for your bank details and the price is over budget to your monthly allowance being 400 Gil. Luckily, you only get to pay it one year and your bank is constantly monitored by the Council. More importantly, just like your bills and rent, the money you pay for the pass will be reimbursed."**

Raines coughed and took a drink of water. He sure has talked quite a bit today. Usually he has his secretary or intern to explain the administrative processes but since this is a priority case, it couldn't be helped. He got up from his sit and poured himself some cold water from the water dispenser and drank it while he came back to Tifa's side and sat back down. Smiling sheepishly he asked, **"Is all this too much to take in?"**

Tifa shook her head and said, **"No. I can list these things so far. Room and board, bills and transport expenses are taken care of by the Council. I have a number of attestations I should safeguard, a special bank number and social security that is valid until I'm legal, I have a roommate with whom I hope to get along with and I am pretty convinced that the Council is no joke and that it's doing its duty to the people. All they have to do is ask. Mr. Raines—"**

 **"No need for the Mister,"** he corrected her immediately.

 **"Raines… you've thought of everything and… I don't know how to thank you. You've given me more than I could hope for and it's overwhelming,"** she added, her tone had an obvious exasperation. She was once again in an emotional turmoil. A part of her said that she does not deserve all of this and the first thing she should do is suffer some pain because Aerith was in hospital and she hadn't said goodbye to Cloud, Zack and Yuffie; she hadn't even left them a note and it wasn't even too much to ask. But she didn't want them to find her easily. She is not ready to face them; she is not ready to tell them that Aerith is in intensive care because of her.

She was also thinking about all the money that is being spent on her. The room itself is costing her 500 Gil each month, which is a price that is on the expensive side, but still reasonable, an additional 100 Gil for the electricity, gas and water utility bills each month, and every year 400 Gil for the RPTP. And then for her bank account they are willing to wire 200 Gil per month. That means each year, they are prepared to pay 10,000 Gil in total and that made her head go dizzy and her heart constrict against her ribs. There must be other administrative costs behind this operation too and she did not want to think about that. She did not want to cry all over again but her eyes were stinging and she knows that Raines can see her eyes are glossy. But she most determined to hold her tears back. She did not want to embarrass herself again.

Raines was sensitive by nature and he can tell that she was not comfortable with all the aid. But there are reasons why the Council can't save everybody, no matter how they wish to. Some can't accept the help because of pride. Others do not want a pity part which is far from the Council's intentions. Tifa did not seem prideful or arrogant and she hasn't lashed out and accused him of pitying her. Her story touched his heart deeply and had meant every word when he said that he will do his maximum to help. Even now, he feels that he hasn't provided enough for her. Some things about her confused him. Why didn't she seek a vision therapist? Or even standard level psychotherapy? Did she think that she could face her fears all alone? There are some fools that think they can operate alone when the truth is, nobody is an island. Tifa was a very smart girl yet she has made some foolish decisions.

 _'Highwind wasn't kidding. This is going to be a long road ahead for the both of us,'_ Raines thought.

 **"Tifa,"** he beckoned her attention and she looked up at him, **"I believe that there is something you should be aware of."** He looked at her intensely in the eyes and this time, Tifa couldn't look away as her heart was thumping hard against her chest, threatening to rip itself out. **"I like to give. I love giving. It's in my nature and I cannot help it. I am not spoiling you. I am not pitying you and I never will. I encourage, I guide others, and sometimes I might have to push others to go to the right direction. I take great pride in philanthropy, Tifa and never dare to think that philanthropy is the same thing is a pity party. A true philanthropist is someone with a grand vision; my vision is to make the world a happier place where there is tolerance and acceptance. I am most grateful to be born in the Era of Academics because if we are to build a better world we need two things: education and love. This is my vision Tifa. So really, thank you for seeking the Council. Thank you for taking Highwind's advice and coming to me. And thank you for accepting all that I can give you. The Council is right behind you, supporting you and obviously not just financially. Money is the least of my worries,"** he finalized his argument dismissively.

 **"Your monthly allowance is always negotiable. If for any reason you need more than what is given, you let me know. If there is something you need me to pay for, even a vacation, don't hesitate to contact me. I am never out of reach."**

Tifa mulled over this for a while and this time instead of her habit of silently nodding her head, she quietly replied, **"Okay."** It was a slight improvement. Her mind kept racing towards her best friend and suddenly an idea came to her mind. This idea made her feel guilty. As if reading her mind Raines supplied for her, **"There is something you want. Name it."** He didn't meant to sound so authoritative but felt that that was the only way to get her to be brave enough to speak her mind.

So Tifa braved through her insecurities and asked, **"I have one… selfish request to ask of you. I am sorry."**

She paused but this time they didn't play the lets-see-who-can-crack first game in the silence. Raines knew that whatever she has to ask was taking a lot of guts, but he honestly didn't think that anything she could possibly ask was too selfish.

 **"Don't be sorry, go on,"** he implored.

Taking a deep breath, she clasped her hands together, as if in a prayer and named her request, **"I would like to go to Midgar once every month and I would like to go there by plane instead of train since it takes two hours to go there… Would you mind paying reimbursing for the plane tickets?"**

Raines considered this request for a moment. Tifa's breath hitched as she panicked in the inside. _'Oh no, what if he thinks I'm exploiting the Council's money? I knew it! I should have kept my mouth shut! What right did I have to—!'_ her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by Raines' consent.

 **"Yes. I can do that. Just send us the electronic ticket and proof of purchase so we can take care of it."**

Contrary to Tifa's panicked assumptions, Raines knew exactly why Tifa made the request. It was so that she can visit Aerith and still be able to focus on her studies. He couldn't imagine spending his hours away in his office if he knew that the ones that he holds dear to his heart was phasing in between life and death on a hospital bed. In his opinion, Tifa was being very brave, braver than most ever could be in this delicate situation. She wasn't just being brave for herself but also for Aerith.

Tifa let go of a shaky breath that she didn't know she was holding and said, **"Thank you."** It may not be the most wordiest form of gratitude but Raines knew that she was being most sincere. Suddenly Raines asked a question that took the young brunette off-guard, **"Tifa are you interested in a part-time job?"** It is more or less globally legal for minors to legally start working at the age of fifteen. In Wutai, it is sixteen and citizens of Cocoon can have a full-time job at the age of seventeen. Tifa slowly nodded, wondering what her CID had in mind. He smiled a smile that said that he was not disappointed with the response, even if it was a silent consent, and pulled out a flyer from her folder and handed it to Tifa. At the top of the flyer, the words _'Tarot Tea & Coffee House'_ in elaborate and fancy curve writing and underneath it was a picture of a lovely water color drawing of a quaint café with red and white parasols over the plastic white tables outside the café and there were fancy flower pots at the window sill. She looked at the address and saw that it was only four blocks away from her school so that was convenient and thought that if she was to start somewhere, this café would be a good place.

 **"I'd like that,"** she decided.

 **"Good because I've already written a recommendation letter,"** Raines grinned as he picked up an enveloped letter and waved it around comically. Tifa laughed at his antics and shook her head as she thought, _'He really has thought of everything. He'll never know how grateful I am.'_

The reason why Raines spoke to her about a part-time job was to keep Tifa's spirit up. He does not look after his cases financially, he pours his heart and soul in his work, with the same dedication that he puts in his more technical line of work and civic duties. He loves his job and the Council and their objectives are his passion; they define his raison d'être. He also wants her to have a social life and a part-time job can be a key to keeping Tifa's mind off of the unpleasant memories that she harbors in the deep recesses of her mind. He doesn't want her to travel in between books, homework and then dorm room. A part-time job can not only provide her the fast-track to the professional world but also help with her emotional turmoil that she successfully kept bottled up. In any case, it was his new favorite café in Rubrum and he loved it for the quaint ambiance. It had the sort of peace that Tifa needs.

 **"I have one little surprise for you, Tifa."**

Tifa expulsed a heavy breath and asked dryly, **"Are you sure you're not spoiling me?"**

 **"Consider it a congratulatory present on your scholarship to VBA. It's been a long time since I met someone who is on full scholarship and in Class-Zero. Class-Zero is a great opportunity as you get to cover up the first year and a half of university easily. Think of the doors that's going to open for you. I can't help but feel happy for you. So humor me with this one okay. And yes, the phone bills are paid by the Council, but your call time is limited to two hours. At least you have unlimited text messages."**

 **"Wait… you're giving me a—!"**

 **"Yes. Yes I am."**

From underneath the piles of paper in her folder he pulled out a sleek smartphone with smooth edges, a touch screen… there was no keypad. It was an honest-to-god smart phone.

 _'What the fuck?! I can't accept this!'_

 **"It's yours, whether you like it or not,"** said Raines, **"My contact details are there and so are my secretary's. Her name is Shelke Rui. Phones are great, aren't they? They help me do my job no matter how stubborn my case can get."**

Tifa gave him a wary look and huffed.

 **"You are not just my job. Tifa. You hold the greatest of my concerns. I want you to study hard in school, I want you to get along well with your classmates and peers, I want you to make friends and have a good school life away from the drama and chaos that you had experienced previously. I want to tell you that you being very brave and I want, no, I _need_ you to keep on being brave for yourself… and for your best friend."**

Tifa looked away from him and immediately felt ashamed. He knows everything and there is no point to being rebellious with him but she can't help having reservations about opening up to the new people she will meet in VBA because she was so nervous. But she knew he was right and her school will open in a little more than a week's time; it's not enough to mentally prepare her but she'll have to brave through this. She's come this far and she cannot back out now.

 **"Here's the deal,"** he offered, **"If you feel so indebted to the Council, then I need you to let me have a few privileges."**

 **"Yes, Raines, I'm listening,"** she answered immediately.

 **"Excellent. You will receive every single one of my calls. If for some reason you don't, send me back a text. You can call me whenever you like, I am never too busy for you. But if you don't reach me, you can always call Shelke and leave a message and I promise to get back to you as much as you can. Be ready for me to pay you a visit at random times. I will not tell you when exactly, but you are to expect a surprise visit from me. I want to know how you are doing and yes, you will have to show me all your report cards and test grades. I am not going to see you at school directly because that might attract unwanted attention to you. But know that from time to time, I pay VBA a professional visit where I organize seminars and teach students for a couple of weeks and if I have the luxury, prepare them for the International Performance, Aptitude and Conduct Evaluation exams, commonly known as iPACE. You've heard of it, I'm sure and I trust the school staff will explain it to you. I can only advise that you choose your subjects well... Basically, you can't get rid of me easily,"** he finished cheekily.

Tifa found herself smiling at this. She felt safe and secure, and even felt hopeful. She just hopes that she can carry those feelings to the first day of school but one never knows.

 **"I'm looking forward to it. And the iPACE sounds like a challenge. I think I'll be up for it,"** she said neutrally. Perhaps one day she will have the heart to say that same sentence with much more conviction.

 **"That's the spirit,"** he encouraged and then reorganized the papers neatly while into her folder while Tifa slipped her smartphone into her backpack. There was one thing that bothered her. Why does her wallet have that additional 500 Gil in her wallet and what was she supposed to do with it. So she asked, **"Raines… you never told me why you gave me five 100-Gil bills in my wallet. What am I supposed to do with it?"**

 **"Ah, thank you for reminding me,"** he chimed as he finished filing away her papers neatly, slapped the bindings of her folder and handed it to her. **"That is so that Highwind doesn't shank me with a spear."**

 _'What?'_ Tifa just raised her eyebrow at this.

Raines expression suddenly became very serious, **"When you go to Rubrum, promise me that you will take your let your roommate accompany you while shopping for new clothes."**

 **"Excuse me?"** Tifa was slight affronted.

 **"FIne. Consider that a congratulatory gift as well. Highwind told me that you would wear nothing but hoodies and drab pairs of jeans back in Midgar. When in Rubrum, you cannot expect yourself to dress like a Midgarian slum rat. Pardon me for being too frank in the matter. But perhaps you may have noticed how conscious the citizens of Cocoon are in what they wear. I'm not asking you to look like a supermodel every day. Rubrum is not a big city like Midgar, but it is a very big town and it has it's own lifestyle and culture. I highly encourage you to adjust and integrate to Rubrum society. Integration is very important and I take it very seriously,"** he said gravely.

Tifa, while still slightly affronted, nodded, showing him that she understood. _'Figures Highwind would say something like that… but I feel like he's right. My clothes are drab. It's time I get a new wardrobe,'_ she reasoned.

 **"Do you have any more questions?"** Raines asked.

 **"No. Thank you,"** she replied promptly.

 **"I wish you'd stay in Cocoon for tonight but you have your own agendy. I understand. Shelke should have your train tickets ready. It's about an hour long ride between Palumpolum to Akademia Station, directly. The joy of today's bullet trains…"** he mused as he dialed Shelke's number and held it next to his ear.

 **"Yes, Cid Raines,"** replied a girl's voice at the other end of the line.

 **"Hello Shelke. Is Tifa Lockhart's e-ticket ready?"**

 **"I have already sent her e-ticket itinerary via e-mail eleven seconds ago. Is there anything else I can do you for you, Cid Raines?"** she asked politely in her monotone voice.

 **"Yes. Tell Rygdea to come to my office. Excellent work as always,"** and he hung up.

 **"Tifa, are you familiar with using your phone to show your e-ticket to the auditors?"**

 **"Yes, I've seen people do it. I don't think I'll have a hard time."**

 **"Brilliant. Then you're all set. When is you're flight?"** he asked.

Tifa took out her newly acquired phone from her bag and pressed the button that looked like a blue and white envelope on the touch screen. She quickly entered her e-mail address and password to access her inbox and found several e-mails. A lot of them came from Cloud and Zack, a couple from Yuffie. Her breath hitched but let her eyes focus on her newest e-mail from Shelke Rui, grateful that her e-mail didn't end up in her spam box and opened it. Scrolling down she saw the details of her itinerary, quickly memorizing the train number and flight number, then finally, the hour. **"I have to board the train at 21:00."**

 _'I would have preferred it to be earlier but I guess it can't be helped',_ she thought.

Raines winced at this but decided to point out a bright side, **"Well, why don't you spend the time sightseeing before you leave. You should be able to stop at the most important cities here. Oh and you'll be accompanied by Rygdea."**

 _'That is… definitely what I would call looking at the glass half full,'_ Tifa thought. Then her stomach growled all the sudden and she blushed. She remembered that she hadn't eaten in a while and they lost track of the time.

 **"Oh dear, it's already 3PM. Forgive me, Tifa. I should have offered you lunch. But…"**

The bell of the intercom rang and Raines immediately got up, knowing it was Rygdea and that gave him an idea. Tifa placed her phone back inside her bag as he opened the door for his friend. **"Rygdea. You're just in time. Did you eat lunch?"**

 **"Not really. And I'm starving."**

 **"Great. I forgot to serve Tifa lunch and completely lost track of the time. I can't leave office yet. I have to catch my helicopter later this evening after finishing my report."**

 **"Yeah, yeah. Spare me the boring story of your workaholic ways,"** Rygdea waved him off. **"So, little lady, you ready to go grab some grub? How hungry are ya?"**

 **"Famished,"** Tifa took the liberty to express her hunger in one apt word.

Raines took this as a good sign. If she can have her appetite by now, then maybe she is on her way to believing that things will work out for the best. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder in the familiar fashion, she walked up to Raines to offer profound thanks. **"Raines. I don't think I can thank you enough for everything you and Highwind have done for me. You even accepted my one selfish request after everything you are offering me already. Thank you…"**

This is the kind of attitude he likes to have his cases go out of his office, with hope and better spirits. It's obvious that many things are weighing Tifa down and this is just the start of her journey. But he didn't need her heartfelt thanks. He needs her to find happiness again for her own sake. **"I am always more than happy to help. And remember, Tifa. If you need me, I'm just a phone call away."** There is a reason to why he insists in her calling. It's so that she can get into the habit of calling. From his files and the psycho-analytical report from Highwind, he knows that communication is a big problem for the pretty brunette. But with one step at a time, he will steer her to the right direction and far away from the path of self-destruction.

 **"I will… let you know once I've arrived safely in my new home,"** she reassured Raines gently.

 **"I'd appreciate that,"** he replied, **"Enjoy your lunch, even if my friend here isn't exactly the most pleasant dating material for a pretty girl like you,"** he throw a teasing jab at his friend.

 **"Oh, shut up, Cid. Just 'cause my lady doesn't appreciate fine dining, doesn't mean I'm bad at dates."**

 **"You took Shalua to Chocobo Burger Glory and called it fine dining. It's a wonder how she puts up with you."**

Rygdea made a dismissive hand gesture in good humor and said, **"Come on, little lady. What do you feel like eating?"**

 **"A big vegetarian pizza… I'm vegetarian I don't eat meat. But I'll never say no to cheese and other delicious dairy products."**

 **"Aw, no Chocobo Burger then? Fine with me. Let's go. And since we hurry, we'll still have four hours. That should give us enough time to at least see all the major hotspots of Cocoon on tour bus before we make a stop at the station. My treat."**

 **"I'm sorry I give you so much trouble, Rygdea."**

 **"What are you talking about? You ain't no trouble. And call my Ryg. Now, come on."**

 **"Farewell, Tifa Lockhart. Till we meet again,"** Raines said with a wave.

Tifa waved back and followed Rygdea into the elevator and out of the building. Goodbyes were never her thing but he told her already that they'll see each other again and he'll personally see to it. She didn't mind as she whole-heartedly trusted him and even though she just met Rygdea today, she came to like him since he's willing to spend a very productive day with her, even if it had a tightly packed schedule.

 _'Till we meet again, Cid Raines. Aerith… I think, no, I believe I can trust him. Plus he's a total babe. You'd like him.'_

Somehow, rather than seeing the image of Aerith's comatose every time she thought of her, this time, could feel Aerith's smile of approval.

* * *

Raines clicked his tablet back into his keyboard carefully and sat in his revolving chair, swaying from left to right for a bit. He looked at the following words that he wrote with a stylus pen that immediately turned into fine print thanks to the optical character recognition software pre-installed into his smart computer:

 _Positive traits: Intelligent, hard-working, dedicated, determined, compassionate, selfless, polite._

 _Negative traits: low self-esteem, guarded, jaded, stubborn, …_

A word was missing. He closed his eyes as he leaned back against his comfortable chair, collecting every single detail of Tifa's case, every posture and tiny details that gave things away from Tifa's body language, her tone, her voice, her composer and the way her face tries _so_ hard to remain neutral (which she does successfully and would even convince him had he not the knack for seeing through people), and finally, he remembered her request that she deemed ' _selfish_ '. He opened his eyes in realization of the missing words that he would put next and quickly typed it out before forgetting it: _guilt-ridden_.

He leaned back against the chair again and looked at the words.

 _'Tifa Lockhart,'_ he thought deeply, _'you poor, beautiful girl. I have only met you face to face today. But I already love your soul. You're so similar to her…'_ His mind wandered slightly to the image of a tall woman with rose-colored hair that completely contrasted against her stoic and rigid demeanor. _'Except, Lightning was much more hot tempered and grumpy. You on the other hand are moody... you're temperament is unhealthier... those feelings you try so desperately to bottle up. But that can all change. How you curve up this road is all up to you. And I will help you. You will find happiness, Tifa,'_ he vowed. He placed his fingers over the keyboards and typed at lightning speed as he elaborated every single adjective he has listed in his psychoanalysis of her case.

* * *

 **A/N:** I had intended to post this chapter yesterday, but for some reason I procrastinated the entire day and ironically I did it out of excitement because my heart was racing at each paragraph I managed to squeeze out of my system. Don't ask me why I'm like this. I'm really nervous and excited. This chapter is like a filler episode but with time in my hands I want to pay attention to detail and for details we sometimes need fillers. I hope it's not a useless filler though. And I was thinking carefully on how I want this chapter to flow and I want to let people know of the idea of the Council and what they do. Basically they are a society of engineering, innovation, technology and on the side social welfare for those who need it most.

There is also a bunch of abbreviations that I would like my lovely readers to keep in mind.

 **C.I.D – Council of Intelligence and Duty**

 **VBA – Vermillion Bird Academy**

 **UTAWA – University of Turk-Avalanche-Wutai Alliance**

 **JIGS – Junon International Gymnastics Stadium**

You can obviously tell that I'm still world building this alternate universe using the location names features in the Final Fantasy games.

 **Disclaimers: All characters and names for settings in this fanfiction are property of Square Enix. Thank you.**

* * *

 **A/N 2:** So there are more abbreviations to keep in mind guys.

 **RPTP** – **Rubrum Public Transport Pass** is a card that lets you travel around Rubrum with any mode of their public transport without a ticket. Very practical.

 **iPACE** – **International Performance, Aptitude and Conduct Evaluation** : a very highly competitive exam that can decide your future in regards to which university or college you will attend. It is the exam that follows after the program where your syllabus covers the first year and a half of studies at university/college level. So it's very challenging. If there is anything else I missed, let me know guys. It's really late in my place and I am tired. I had intended for Tifa to meet in this chapter but this chapter got too long so I'll just write up the Elfé-Tifa interaction in the next chapter. It should be interesting to see because I don't think in-game-Tifa met any of the members of the previous incarnation of AVALANCHE, you know, the one that is really badass and hardcore with Fuhito as the brains of that gig. Were you guys surprised to learn about Tifa's new roommate?

About the welfare system here; let's just say that this welfare system is non-governmental and has been privatized by the Council. Their way doing business is interesting. Since the Era of Academics is mentioned, and I believe I have explained enough of what that implies, the Council doesn't just donate, they invest a lot of money in schools so that they produce brilliant minds. Were you excited to see that I featured Shelke from Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus as Cid Raines' secretary? Pretty cool, huh? The idea of behind C.I.D came from the existing welfare system in Europe (I will not point out specific countries for good reason), which is arguably better than what we have in the United States, the idea of OBAMA care and whatever ideas I had about Tony Stark (from the Iron Man franchise) 'privatizing' world peace. I assure you that the C.I.D does very good business, they function so well that they can afford to spend around 20,000 Gil on average for a person in need, or as they like to refer to them as; cases of priority. They see potential in people no matter what age or background they are form and do their best to nurture the potential that has been suppressed. Cid Raines has made it his personal mission to nurture Tifa's potential; hence the lovely job and the smart phone that he gifted.

I really loved typing Rygdea. I hope I got his cowboy antics right.

And I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. **So please, R &R!**


	4. From Elfé to Café

**CHAPTER FOUR: FROM ELFE TO CAFE**

Even though her time in Cocoon had been very short she had managed to spend a productive day with Rygdea, which helped a lot. On the tour bus she saw the wonders of Eden, Palamecia, Nautilus and Lake Bresha. He even treated her out to dinner before they boarded the train, ignoring all her protests to let her pay for it or at least a part of it. She could never get her mind off the people she left behind in Midgar, but this time she found it in herself to be able to breathe more easily. That or it could have something to do with the fact that Midgarian air was thick with pollution and Cocoon is does its best to stay green, despite all that electricity it seems to use up. Rygdea was great company and even insisted that he had no trouble accompanying her all the way to her new home since he happened to have some business in Rubrum to take care of regardless. When they reached Tifa's new home, it was past eleven and she was very surprised to see her new roommate open the door just when she was about to ring the bell.

 **"Good evening. You must be my new roommate, Tifa. I'm Felicia but call me Elfé,"** the brunette greeted humbly.

 _'Elfé... why does that ring a very loud big bell?'_ But Tifa was too tired and gave her the best smile she could muster with her exhaustion.

 **"Hello. I'm so sorry for coming so late. I feel so bad that you had to wait till this ungodly hour,"** Tifa said, shamefacedly.

 **"Don't worry about it. I was most anxious to see you. Besides it's Friday night. Which means either I go out with my boyfriend or I just kick back and watch some late night TV. Come inside, already,"** she ushered as she stepped aside. But before Tifa let herself step foot inside the house she turned to face Rygdea and said, **"Thank you so much. For everything. All the trouble and… for what you did for me back in our previous train ride…"**

Rygdea knew that she was referring to the time she let herself break down into tears. Truthfully, he only comforted her because it was awkward and he didn't want any onlookers to make any unnecessary jugements but later he felt genuinely worried for her so he did what he had to.

 **"Don't sweat it. Get some rest, okay, kiddo? And remember to call Raines if you don't want him to nag you,"** he joked.

Tifa let herself smile at this when she knew that in her heart she doesn't mind if her new CID calls her and he will not be the only one keeping tabs on her either. It's good to have people who care. Cid tried to be a fatherly figure to her while still being himself; he was rough around the edges and swears a lot, and also has a very bad temper. But he is kind and did his best as a social service worker; he also never expected anything big and grand from her. Raines was very different in that matter. He expects her to do well in school and she felt almost obliged to prove herself to him that she can do this on her own. So before forgetting to call Raines before, she slid off the handle of her backpack from her shoulder and opened the zip. Her hand shuffled inside for her phone and found it underneath the messy heap of clothes that she inelegantly shoved into her backpack when she was about to leave Midgar. After finding her phone, she tapped the 'contacts' button and scrolled down to find the name 'Cid Raines' and tapped it. It had all his contact details, including his postal address, e-mail address and his phone. She dialed his number and pressed the phone against her ear until she heard his voice from the other end.

 **"Hello, Tifa."**

 **"Evening. I just want to let you know that I am just outside my new home… I also met Elfé,"** she didn't have the heart to tell him that she was really tired and wants to go to bed but thankfully, Raines is a sensitive man.

 **"That's good to hear. Thank you for letting me know. Get some sleep and I wish you all the best. Goodnight."**

 **"Night,"** and she hung up.

Turning to Rygdea, she thanked him again and he turned to leave but not before giving her one last advice about not being afraid to call Raines if there was anything she needed. Elfé has been very patient as she waited awkwardly outside the door and was relieved when she finally let herself inside and close the door after her. **"Come on. I'll show you to your room. I dressed it up myself, so I hope you'll like it."** She led her through the living room and up the narrow staircase where they will find themselves in a corridor with three doors. The door at the far left was slightly ajar while the door in the middle ad a charm hanging at the door know. Tifa recognized it to be a Moogle toy with a cute red green tarsal and deduced that it must be Elfé's room. The third door at the far right had the door wide open to reveal a pastel turquoise colored bathroom.

 **"So you're room's the one in the far right over there,"** Elfé demonstrated as she lead her there and opened the door for her to see. The room was almost the size as her that apartment in Midgar equipped with a tall wardrobe and a decent study table. Tifa also noticed that she can finally have the luxury of having a bedside table with a lamp on top if she wanted to have a late night read. For some reason, this made her ridiculously happy though she didn't show it. The coloring was cream, off white and dark brown and her bed sheets and pillow cases were maroon colored and her blanket was thick and white in color with tiny black polka dots.

 **"It's really cozy, Elfé. I like it."**

 **"I'm glad. I'll leave you alone and if you need anything I'll be in my room. You are welcome to come inside anytime,"** then she politely closed the door after herself to leave Tifa alone to unpack her meager belongings: a small viscose cloth bag containing her toiletries, seven pairs of underwear, three pairs of skinny jeans (one black and two blue), her drab vest that is too big for her, four tee shirts (two short sleeved: one red and one white; two long sleeved: one grey, one black); and a single set of pajamas for the summer. She stared at all her belongings and sighed.

 _'I really want to get rid of that vest. Maybe I should burn it, nobody is going to wear that. What was I thinking?'_ Her brief time in Cocoon has forced her to become fashion conscious and she has never cared about it before. She certainly hasn't cared about how she looked before as she was too busy trying to be invisible and studying hard. Cid knew exactly what he was talking about when he told her to get rid of those hoodies. Now that she thought back, the hoodies were pointless in her attempt to be invisible. She took care to fold up her clothes and arranged them in her wardrobe. Then she took off her shoes and snatched her pair of underwear, pajamas and her toiletries and opened the door to cross the corridor in order to head towards the bathroom. Upon closer look at the bathroom tiles she saw that there were themes of sea life with little shells and starfish designed in the tile works and the wooden knobs of the bathroom cabinet had cute little dolphins carved into it. Looking at the sink she saw that Elfé had even arranged for her a separate tooth brush holder since it had a lovely water proof name sticker on it. Smiling at her thoughtfulness, she arranged the toiletries into the cabinet and placed her now empty bag at the top corner of the shelf before closing it.

 _'Okay, all set. Now to brush my teeth…'_

During her nightly hygiene ritual, Elfé interrupted her slightly as she got out of her room and leaned against the bathroom door.

 **"Hey, do you want to watch some late night TV with me? They're going to start the first episode of third season of Devil May Cry. Wanna watch?"** she offered.

 **"Yeah sure!"** Tifa replied with a muffled tone as her mouth was foaming with toothpaste. When the sting of the freshness was too much to bear, she spit it out and asked, **"I want to take a quick shower though. Is it okay if I can use your hairdryer till I get my own?"**

 **"Oh, yeah go ahead. I'll wait for you downstairs. I assume you don't want any late night snacks?"**

 **"Nah, I'm good,"** she affirmed and went back to brushing her teeth.

 **"A'ight,"** Elfé chirped and she headed downstairs.

By the time Tifa heard the sound of the television turn on she had finished her oral hygiene ritual, thoroughly rinsing her mouth and spit one final time before turning off the tap. Her head picked up to see a reflection of herself on the cabinet mirror. It was clean and unbroken where the one in Cid's place always had cobwebs and cracks and now non-existent since Tifa punished it with her knuckles. This time, she finally swallowed the idea that she was finally in Rubrum, not Midgar, and she has a nice roommate too. She didn't know if she felt any better because the reflection of herself showed her as tired, her skin is pallid and her hair is a mess and didn't make her look any less brooding, especially with her bangs that grew so long that it covered one of her eyes and she still couldn't bother to get a haircut.

She concluded that she never liked looking at the mirror but she will make an effort to buy clothes that will make her forget all about Midgar's gritty lifestyle for the moment. She shred off her clothes and dumped it in the stray laundry basket that sat on top of a pink plastic stool and hung her pajamas next to the hand towels on the towel rods. Then she stepped into the shower cabin, sliding the leak-proof glass door behind her. She looked up at the shower head and closed her eyes as she pulled the valve and let the cold drizzle fall on her face. The water slowly turned lukewarm and comfortable enough to rinse her hair and body, lather with cherry-blossom scented shampoo and soap and rinse again. While this long shower was good for soothing her muscles from all that touring and travelling from one locomotive to another she felt her mind zone into another world; a world that was not familiar to her.

In this world, she found herself again in the strangest outfit where she wore a leather zip-up top, a train-skirt that was long at the back which was attached to a leather pouch at the front (typical of what you would see on waiters and bar hosts), knee-length cargo shorts and on her hand a ring of a silver wolf, the same emblem of the Midgar Wolves Blitzball team. She never remembered being a fan of Blitzball. She then noticed a water droplet fall at her feet (and she noticed that those sneakers are probably the only article of clothing she has seen in her visions). Then she looked up and saw a clear water drop at the railing of some… place she wasn't really sure. She was only vaguely aware of the people around her when mouth moved, but she wasn't sure if it was really her.

 _ **"Somehow, I knew you were there. Thank you."**_

 _'Who… am I talking to?'_

She looked at the people she was with. She saw the back of Cid, Yuffie jumping up and down, a furry red beast that she thought only lives in Cosmo Canyon or Gran Pulse and on top of him a cat toy that looks exactly like Mr. Tuesti's keychain, Barret with a mechanical arm that turns into a gun, and finally a tall imposing dark man with a long red cloak and a golden claw. _'Who is he…? And where is Zack? Where is Aerith…? Aerith!'_

 **"AERITH!"** Tifa shouted and she tripped into the shower cabinet in her panic and fell hard on her bum, but she didn't wince in pain. She breathed hard as she saw that vision. **"What was that about?"** she whispered shakily as she leaned her head against the glass pane behind her. She stared at the showerhead that continued to spray water but it didn't clear out the stinging feeling in her eyes. The last time she has seen something with the cast of people in her vision involved all of them fighting a large dragon in a ruined Edge, a suburb at the outskirts of Midgar. This was alarming because dragons in this world are tamable and fly freely in conserves of Wutai and Concordia, two big countries down South of Gaia. As usual, that vision suffered the absence of seeing Zack and Aerith and she was always stuck wondering about the red furred lion-wolf and that tall man with the red cape. She has not met him yet and she felt that it was unnerving.

But she chose to forget about this and try to start her new life in Rubrum if she was to get anywhere with her sudden plans. She didn't know what she will do after she graduates but she had hoped to find her passion with this simple change of scenery. So far she knew she loves to study, music and sports. But those are large fields and she doesn't know how specified her preferences could be tailored or how deep her passion for those subjects could be. But now… she was free to explore them. She got up carefully by holding a rod and pushed the valve to stop the water. She saw her fingers get wrinkled and easily decided that was too much rinsing for one evening.

She dried herself and then dried her hair thoroughly so she wouldn't get sick and spent some time comping through her hair that was so long that it covered her bottom. _'I shouldn't keep Elfé waiting,'_ she thought and quickly put on her pajamas and hurried downstairs where she found her roommate in front of the television her body splayed out on the couch.

 **"Sorry to keep you waiting, Elfé. Did it start already?"**

 **"Wow you took a** ** _long_** **shower. But you're lucky, I was one half an hour off to the real start of the program,"** she informed as she curled her legs behind her to give Tifa the space to sit.

 **"Oh cool,"** Tifa took her offer to sit and stretched her legs out until she heard the small audible crack of her muscles. Then she leaned back and relaxed as she crossed her ankles.

 **"By the way I heard you yell something upstairs. Is everything alright?"** Elfé asked.

 **"Oh um…"** Tifa sighed. _'I… hate visions. I hate seeing them. I hate talking about them.'_

 **"It's no big deal. Just saw a stupid vision in the shower that ended with a pain in the ass,"** she replied, waving her hand dismissively.

 **"Ouch. Visions plus shower, equals an accident and a string of swears against the gods. Assholes,"** she concluded. Elfé perfectly understood that visions can be a nasty thing to talk about and she only ever told about her visions to her dad and her boyfriend, so she didn't pry and there is something much more interesting than visions and its airing on the television. And both women were staring at the television with interest when the star of the show, Dante arrived in his shirtless glory, straight out of the shower. Then came a scene when the demons attacked him and prevented him from eating his last slice of pizza.

 **"Oh yes. Now bring out that big sword of yours!"** cheered Elfé.

 **"Innuendos,"** was the only word Tifa graced to that comment. But she had to agree with her.

 **"Deliciously inappropriate,"** she replied back with a smirk.

Both the girls giggled at their antics as they continued to watch the first episode with appreciation and knew they will probably have good dreams tonight.

The episode lasted forty-eight minutes and Elfé shut the television off before they can hear the classic, 'Next episode...' She didn't mind previews but these days previews gave too many spoilers.

 **"Call it a night?"**

 **"Yeah. Goodnight Elfé."**

 **"Goodnight."**

And they went upstairs to their respective bedrooms.

Tifa kneeled in front of the bed and clasped her hands in prayer. She closed her eyes and thought that this time she will have a different type of prayer. For the past three weeks she has only prayed for one thing. 'Please wake up, Aerith. Please let Aerith open her eyes today'. This time she had a prayer that she felt was more urgent. _'Please. I want to tell Aerith that I made it to Class-Zero. I want to see her smile again. I want her to congratulate me and hug me. I want to see her vivid green eyes again and I want to hear her corny jokes. I want to receive her lovely floral gifts again. I want to see Zack and Cloud happy and fulfilling their dreams. I want Yuffie to steal something from me again,'_ she knew she wasn't finished just there so for the first time in her entire life, she prayed for herself, _'please, help me change for the better'_.

The moment Tifa dug deeply into her blanket on her bed, she felt extreme fatigue quickly wrap around her whole conscious and her eyes shut easily as she fell into a dreamless sleep. She didn't see Aerith, or any of her friends or any nightmares of the current head of police… She didn't dream and tomorrow she will wake up thinking that it was a shame since she would have liked to see Dante come and whisk her away after saving her from some demons.

* * *

The next morning, Tifa woke up to the smell of breakfast and her stomach growled. Her stomach seems to do that quiet often but her fogged mind cannot comprehend why. Forcing herself to kick the warm sheets, she slipped out of the bed and opened her wardrobe to slip on some clothes. Then she hurried downstairs to follow the delicious scent and found the door to the kitchen behind the living room. There she found Elfé making stacks of waffles.

 **"Smells good,"** Tifa remarked as she helped herself into the kitchen to take out two plates and two sets of cutlery for the both of them, "Do you need any help?" she asked as she arranged them on the table.

 **"Good morning, Tifa. And no. I didn't think you'd wake up this early since its Sunday, but let me make you some waffles. Could you take out the syrup? It's in that cabinet,"** Elfé pointed.

 **"Sure,"** Tifa promptly found it and placed it on the plastic white kitchen table. She sat on one of the matching chairs while Elfé filled shoved the freshly baked waffles onto each of their plates and poured a healthy amount of syrup on each of their breakfasts. Taking a bite, Tifa found it delicious in all its sugary delight and it showed. **"Mm! It's been a while. Thank you so much for the trouble, Elfé."**

 **"It's no trouble at all, Tifa. So… tell me about yourself."**

 **"Well… I come from Midgar. I went to high school there, then I decided that I wanted to move here to study and got accepted to Vermillion Bird Academy."**

 **"That doesn't say much,"** Elfé remarked.

 **"… I came on scholarship. I'll be with Class-Zero,"** she said in the lowest voice possible as she that she would sound arrogant.

Elfé beamed at this and said, **"Oh my god, do you know what that means? You should definitely try out for the Scholastic Dissidia Trials. And if you succeed that, you can enter Dissidia Tournament."**

Tifa was very much in touch with world events. She knew that the Dissidia Tournaments are a much bigger rage than Blitzball. It is a series of obstacle courses with races, duels, puzzle-solving, board running and much more. It is intense, suspenseful and a huge thrill for not just the contestants but also their fans. Trading cards are made out of the contestants and if they are popular enough they get their own franchise too. Suddenly she remembered something about her roommate. The Scholastic Dissidia Trials put students in each school into a series of highly sportive tests and assess their performance levels to decide which of the best two get to participate in the Dissidia Tournaments. They then have the right to compete each year with new and old rivals and have complete control over their retirement. Some people only compete one year and take their rewards and never come back. Others compete to be remembered and make their standing.

 **"Wait… my roommate is Felicia Verdot, aka Elfé."** Realization has dawned on her like a ton of bricks and Elfé snickered at her reaction. **"… Does the world know you make great waffles?"** Tifa attempted to joke but this was very overwhelming. _'Raines told me earlier but I was just so tired with all that administrative shit he piled up all over me! Damn it!'_ Elfé is quiet famous because of her intense rivalry with Sephiroth Crescent. Sephiroth, as far as Tifa knows, is the head of Midgar Police. His rise to power was very fast due to his intelligence and his background with Guardian Corp. He competed with Genesis Rhapsodos (now a famous dramatist and director) and Angeal Hewley (her ex-PE teacher, now in SOLDIER) and won first place for the first two years in his time.

He was expected to win for the third time the Tournaments that had the three aforementioned contestants were said to be the most thrilling and anticipated because the competition was so close. Genesis was the obviously the brainiest of the bunch and people expected him to win with his tricks and knack for escaping traps. But Sephiroth somehow always outshines him. Either he has a lot of dumb luck or he's the god of Dissidia Tournaments. Tifa… always hoped that Sephiroth would lose because she feared him. Even now, if they were to sit across each other, knowing well that Sephiroth was guilty for what his half-brothers have done, she would still squirm. Her hopes came true when Sephiroth Crescent was defeated by one Felicia Verdot. It was the biggest surprise in the history of game change. It had been a close match but Elfé had defeated Sephiroth fair and square. Sephiroth was not seen in the next year's Tournament but he wished Elfé the best for the next year. Elfé competed for the next year and left the Tournament willingly after that. Tifa knew because she has her trading card.

 _'Come on girl. Get yourself together. Stop slobbering and being a stupid fan girl in front of your idol! Oh my god, I am eating waffles made by Elfé. The Elfé and the one and only. I am sitting next to her. Okay say something, say something. Why didn't I recognize her earlier? Oh because she was in PJs, looking really homely and she's without make up. Not that she's ugly without it… She's very pretty. And a tomboy. Like me. She likes Dante. Like me. She's just so cool! Why didn't I fucking recognize her?! I mean come on who goes on by the name of Elfé. Raines… you sly, sexy, son-of-a-bitch, you were testing me all this time wondering if I was listening to you. I was more worried about paperwork. You got me a first class seat too in the train. Then you let me go to Midgar every month. You pay more than 10,000 Gil for me and you now put me as a roommate next to a celebrity.'_

 **"Relax,"** Elfé roused her from her thoughts. **"We're in Rubrum and I don't want any paparazzi. Also it's been a long time ago. I'm surprised anyone remembers me now. The new guys are competing are much more impressive. I hear this Squall guy is quite good. His competition with Tidus was memorable. Some say that he was trained by Lightning herself."**

Claire Farron, aka, Lightning is the one woman in the history of Dissidia to compete and guard three Gold Medals where everybody else before after her could only guard two at maximum. Tifa admires her a lot.

 **"Um… Elfé. I just want to tell you that I'm not one to go gaga over Dissidia contestants but since you defeated Sephiroth, I bought your trading card and it's the only trading card I allowed myself to possess."**

Elfé peeled with laughter at that and said, **"Thanks! That's really flattering. Honestly, I don't know how I did it, its dumb luck. Sephiroth was a really scary competition. But you know, we respect each other. I wonder how he's doing. I heard that he landed himself into a bit of personal trouble. All he said was that his family is insane and he's no longer cleaning up their messes…"**

Tifa knew immediately what Sephiroth was talking about and made no further comment. She wanted to stop all talk about the silver-haired legend and think of something else.

 **"It's funny… I had visions of him before. I remember feeling somewhere in between nothing to courage; the kind that you feel when you face an obstacle but you feel obliged to face it. But I can't remember them anymore, I can't remember the details. They used to be so clear before, so real. Now, these visions don't mean anything. Sephiroth is not some bloody archenemy with a fancy katana, but he was a worthy opponent. I'm honored to know him personally."**

Tifa listened carefully at this and knew that she had never seen Elfé in her visions but she has seen Sephiroth clearly. He was menacing, he had an evil aura and every time they were in battle with him along with Cloud and that mysterious man with the red cape, the way he wielded his sword made him demonic. He was an absolute monster in battle. But Tifa remembered feeling almost what Elfé described: this intense feeling of duty to face your fears. Tifa was facing possible death in her dreams as she landed blows after blows on Sephiroth when he turned into that thing with seven wings and whatever his lower body was made of. Humans can't possibly grow wings and last time she checked, Sephiroth bleeds red blood and he's human… and he doesn't have that ridiculously long hair which must be incredibly inconvenient for battle. His hair was indeed silver, but short and covered up to his neck. He still had strange pupils but he has the green eyes of a cat but in her visions they were eyes of a poisonous viper.

 **"My wardrobe is drab,"** Tifa swiftly changed the subject.

 **"Is it Midgarian?"** Elfé grinned.

 **"Very… _very_ drab. But my skinny jeans are okay. I guess…"**

 **"Today we have Sunday market and there will be some beautiful clothes for you. It's been a while since I went shopping with a friend. Since I moved to University of Akademia from UTAWA, I never really got around it."**

 **"I guess this could be fun… I'm not the sort that goes shopping either. I'm a total tomboy. My best friend—"** she choked a little as she mentioned Aerith, **"she… she would drag me to every mall."**

 **"Hey, we're allowed to be girly from time to time."**

 **"I concur. Say, do you know this café called Tarot Tea & Coffee House? I was supposed to go there and ask for a job…"**

Elfé's eyes widened at the name and said, **"Yes indeed I know it. My boyfriend is the manager. I can take you there first and then we can go to the market. By the way, how old are you?"**

 **"I'm fifteen."**

 **"And you're birthday?"**

 **"May 3rd."**

 **"So you're legal enough to have a part-time job and you'll turn sixteen in early spring. The timing is really good for you."**

 **"If you're talking about me entering the Trials, I still need to think about it…"**

 **"Take your time."**

They amiably finished their breakfast and Elfé insisted to clean the dishes. So Tifa went upstairs to check her belongings.

 _'Okay, wallet, check. Folder… I'll leave it behind,'_ she took out the blue folder but remembered that she had to take her letter of recommendation. Opening it, she flipped through the pages and pages of administrative paperwork and finally found a beige envelope that she recognized to be the letter of recommendation and slipped it into her bag. She ran downstairs to see Elfé ready and waiting for her as she tossed the keys playfully in the air. She looked rather smart sporting a light blue pair of jeans and a bottle green top with matching sneakers.

 **"Shall we?"**

 **"We shall,"** Tifa joked back.

 **"Oh before I forget, here are your keys. Don't lose them because in Rubrum forging extra keys is a steep price compared to Cocoon,"** she advised as they left the house. The café happens to be right next to the tram station Cid Raines had mentioned that Tifa would have to take to go to VBA. The station was called Agito Middle Street named after the street the café they entered.

 **"Shears? Are you there?"**

A young man with curly blond hair and boyish looks looked up from cleaning his mug and said, **"Oh hello. I'll go get Shears, he's in his office."** The café had few people in it as most of them must have already gone to the Sunday market in the morning and plan to stop by later. The blond haired boy disappeared into the back entrance and Elfé inclined her head to Tifa to join her to sit on a stool at the bar tab. Tifa didn't let herself have the luxury as she felt it would be rude to sit and then ask the manager of the job. The blond boy came out followed by a serious looking fellow with chestnut brown hair, much like Elfé's and wore an olive-green beanie over his head. He looks like the type that can survive on his own on Midgar slums and maybe he came from there.

 **"What's up, Elfé? Who's this?"** he cocked his chin to Tifa's direction. Tifa… wanted to curl in a corner somewhere. She is not really good with this types and the only way she can handle it is a neutral face and a monotone expression. She's never had a job interview before and she was feeling uneasy. _'Don't mess up. Don't mess up. Don't mess up. Try to smile. Look positive. Don't be gloomy self. Just—'_

 **"She came here asking for a job,"** Elfé supplied in her stead.

Shears wasn't one to beat around the bush and replied immediately, **"Sorry kid. We are already full and we don't have time for rookies."**

 **"Shears!"** Elfé scolded.

Luckily for him, Tifa wasn't one to beat around the bush either, especially when she receives this sort of attitude. She had to stand up for herself. So she slammed her backpack on the bar tab with purpose. That grabbed everyone's attention. She unzipped her bag to pull out an envelope and handed it to him. **"I have a recommendation letter. But if that's not enough, I'll just look someplace else."**

Shears blinked and secretly thought, _'This girl has guts,'_ and wordlessly took her envelop and ripped it open to unfold the letter before him. His eyebrows rose slightly when he saw where it came from and his eyes scanned the letter quickly. **"Well… if Raines insists, then I got no choice,"** he muttered and gave back the letter. **"Do you have your visa?"**

 **"Yes."**

 **"Is it with you?"**

 **"It's at home."**

 **"Always keep your visa with you, kid."**

 **"Got it. My name's Tifa. Tifa Lockhart."**

 **"Shears Villiers. At your service."**

Tifa thought that it was funny he said that since she'll be the one to be giving the services and doing whatever he says since he's the boss.

 **"Well then. I'll show you the ropes today. So you start tomorrow. When does your school start?"**

 **"September 1st".**

 **"Tell you what? You do well this week, and I'll give you a PGC: Permanent Guarantee Contract. You call the shots when you want to come, how many hours you work and when you want to quit. You get paid 20 Gil per hour."**

 **"That… sounds like a good deal."**

 **"By the way, I lied. I do need people…"** he took the moment to look slightly shame faced. **"It's just the last time I had a rookie, he fucking set the kitchen on fire. And you're just in time. Felix here goes back to uni next week."**

 **"Hello! Guess we'll be working together from tomorrow. I'm Felix. Felix Nunchaku. It's too bad we only get to know each other for a week but let's get along okay?"** the blond male, Felix, chirped.

 **"Sure,"** Tifa nodded.

From her speech patterns, Shears already knew that she wasn't much for talking. Much like himself. Even her disposition was like someone that was a hard case. Fortunately, in a quaint café like his, they didn't always have to be as chipper as Felix. Being polite and welcoming as enough.

 **"By the way Felix… why is your last name a weapon?"** Tifa wondered.

 **"Because… maybe my ancestors have a weird sense of humor? I happen to have a variety of nunchakus in my Heirloom,"** he shrugged with a smile. Tifa… didn't know what to think of that. Her Heirloom that keeps coming down from parent to child are a pair of knuckles known as Premium Heart. The last time she has seen her Heirloom was when she was eight. After her mother died it disappeared.

 **"Enough socializing. Time to show you the ropes, kid."**

Tifa was tempted to roll her eyes when Shears wouldn't stop calling her a kid. But he slid off the bar tab and followed Shears behind the kitchen where all the 'fucking wonders of pastries, coffee beans and tea leaves' happen and where things are, where to clean the dishes, the uniform cabinet, the store room, the place where you check the inventory and finally, he told her to 'buy herself a fucking hairband since her hair look like a moody teenager that's going to throw off the customers'. Etiquette is not his forte. She wondered how he manages to keep the café going with an attitude like that.

He was about to give her more 'fucking' advice until Elfé reprimanded him, **"Shears. Language. And she'll be fine, she's smarter than you are. She happens to be Class-Zero with scholarship even if she's new here. And I have a shopping date with her."**

 **"Wait seriously? Congrats kid,"** Shears took the decency to offer a small congratulatory smile for that.

 **"Wow… what are the chances I get to meet a bona fide Class-Zero student? Man I wish I could stay longer just to get you know better. And scholarship? You must be really smart. Hey you should seriously consider going to UTAWA. It's awesome!"** Felix rambled excitedly.

 **"Thanks… I'll think about it,"** she really doesn't know how she should handle people when they find out that she is a scholarship student. She has achieved an amazing feat but she doesn't want to rub that into people's faces. She knew that Cid Raines was a scholarship student too, so perhaps there will be one just like her. There are two ways to get to class-zero: exceptional test results and overall fair performance in class or one special skill and lots of money behind you. Tifa fell into the first category.

 **"I'll see you tomorrow, Shears. Felix,"** she offered a simple nod to the blond waiter and he cheerily waved, genuinely looking forward to tomorrow. Elfé took this as her cue to leave the café but not before pressing a gentle kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. **"I'll make sure to call. My dad is planning to visit mid-September,"** she informed with an apologetic expression. Shears winced but didn't say anything as he watched her leave.

 **"Say… I'm curious. What do you think of our new recruit?"**

 **"A hard case."**

 **"She… kind of reminds of Midgar for some reason. I think I've seen her once in my much older visions but I can't remember the details."**

 **"Nah, she's definitely from the slums or at least at the outskirts of it. Maybe that's why she moved. And Felix… learn to mind your own god damn fucking business."**

Felix gave him a shaky sheepish grin and raised his hands to surrender, **"Hey, you're already getting overprotective of your new pretty employee. How cute."**

 **"Shut. The.** ** _Fuck_** **. Up."**

* * *

In the meanwhile, Tifa learned a lot about Elfé, more than Elfé could learn about her. Every time she asked her for her origins she would evade it somehow, make her think that she was from a small village near Icicle Inn and it was a half-truth. The only thing Elfé knows was that she learned martial arts from the late Master Zangan. Then during her time in Midgar, she would take the train to JIGS and train with two martial arts experts who shared the same teacher. Elfé knew them well because they were once students of UTAWA.

Tifa on the other hand learned that Elfé likes the color green and came from Kalm Town and lived in Midgar with her father briefly before leaving due to her visions. She got her Bachelor's Degree in Management of Non-Profit Organizations and is currently doing a master's program in Akedemia University. During her free time Elfé likes to go to JIGS and practice Kendo, go to cinema halls and concerts or just sit at home and watch TV. She also knows that she's been going out with Shears for four years and her dad still doesn't like him.

After knowing her this much already, Tifa already felt the ugly head of inferiority complex when she tries to make a list of her own personal hobbies; she has very little hobbies. Sure, there is the piano and the sports but Elfé has a much more colorful life even when her activities are so relatable and homely enough; she's such a regular girl and it's easy to forget that she defeated the once three-times-in-a-row champion, Sephiroth. There is much that Tifa doesn't know about herself and she doesn't just hope anymore for something to happen in Rubrum. Rather, she is counting on her future experiences in Class-Zero to change her for the better; make her happier and stronger, make her somebody that can care for others and protect them; be a person that can love herself a little more.

Perhaps the first step to self-love is a new wardrobe and maybe a haircut. If that was the case, then she is glad that she went out with Elfé and was satisfied with her new clothes. There were clothes that is perfect for going to JIGS, and an array of casual clothing that ranged from dresses to shorts, many stylish tops and skinny jeans that did not make her look drab thanks to their incredibly stylish seams. It had been a good day while Elfé showed her around Rubrum via tram. She even got to see the university campus which had a lovely park and there they had their lunch. So far it went well.

Until Elfé ran out of things to say.

She was usually reserved but social and Tifa, to her, was a little awkward. She was always curt in her replies and she'd ask more simple questions over simple things rather ask the real questions. She was also very evasive sometimes but she decided to overlook it but if her ears heard correctly, Raines is the one that wrote that recommendation letter and that must mean that she is under CID protection, something her father fully approves of and works vigorously in their administrative section. But like Shears she was not one to pry and Tifa is only her roommate during the weekends and holidays. The rest of the time, she'll be at VBA since it is also a boarding school with fully equipped dormitories. She'll have another roommate there and she will never be alone. She wonders if Tifa knows how lucky she is because she always looked weighed down by something. To her credit, Tifa's evasive answers and diplomatic replies are a good shield and she was able to exhibit a sense of humor. She likes to maintain a neutral face most of the time but her newly acquired roommate wasn't someone without expressions. In any case, the awkward silence was killing her and it was the first time she was forced to talk more than usual to anyone before.

 **"Shall we call it a day? I have to date with Shears later in the evening. Will you be okay at home alone?"** she asked.

 **"Yeah."**

There it was again, the curt responses. Elfé almost wanted to roll her eyes and tell her that it is okay to reply with more than one word just to say essentially one thing. **"Then let's go home."**

* * *

Monday came the next day and so was her first day of work, even if it is a week long trial period. She was told to arrive before 8:00AM so that they can prepare the inventory and open the shop. Monday doesn't have many customers but there are always people who eat their breakfast outside before going to work. At one point, she treated the idea of eating breakfast outside everyday as a wastefully expensive habit for rich people who want to show off. But now that she is actually going to work for the café, she would have to thank them for her patronage and doesn't think negatively of them anymore. _'Maybe not all rich people are bad but then again, the people of Rubrum were a lot friendlier and helpful than Midgarians,'_ she thought as she entered the café through the back entrance. She found Felix carrying boxes and he cheerily greeted her, **"Hey, Tifa. How are you?"**

 **"Fine."**

Elfé wasn't the only one that noticed her one-word replies.

 **"Geez, you can say more than one word to me, Tifa. I don't bite,"** he joked but felt slightly bad when he noticed Tifa looking shamefaced at this and clearly struggling to say something more but he saved her the trouble. **"Sorry, couldn't help myself. Say, why you don't help me move those boxes over here? We have a new delivery and we have to open them and rearrange the items in the cupboards."**

 **"Sure,"** Tifa winced as she did her old habit again. **"Of course. I'll be glad to help out."**

 **"That's the spirit! Oi Shears! Tifa's here!"**

 **"Good! Now put her to work, you hyperactive perm-head-on-crack!"**

 **"So mean…"** he muttered with an amused smile. Tifa wondered if Shears was actually Cid's cousin.

As they sorted out the inventory, Tifa was headed to the kitchen to take her long bib and was startled when Shears shouted, **"Holy! What are you—?"** Then he stopped himself as he took another one-look over her. Tifa was wearing a greyish-lavender sundress that reached her knees which was alright… however the neckline of her dress showed a bit of cleavage and it wasn't her fault either. It wasn't as if she was naked and it is not a sin to be an attractive waitress either.

 _'Damn, she's … uh… healthy for her age,'_ Shears thought and wondered if he is going to have to have a hard time chasing of male customers that dare to disrespect her. But then again, her looks could mean good business and if she behaves strictly professionally as he had seen from her interactions with Felix, then he doesn't have to worry about Tifa's indiscretions because there won't be any. **"Never mind,"** he muttered as he watched the croissants bake itself in the oven. **"Put on your bib. Watch Felix. Greet the customers. Take their orders. Come back to the kitchen. Take out the drinks first. Wait for me to finish making their orders. Take those out and you're good. And when they signal you for the bill, print it out from this pad and give it to them. Then you are free to take an order from another table. Come back to them later and collect the money then put it in the cashier. Felix will show you how to handle it. In the meantime, I'll show you how this order taking pad works."**

He took out a device that looks similar to a smartphone but really it is a custom-made bulky tablet for this café and equipped with the ability to print out the final bill from the paper cartridge.

 **"See these numbered buttons? They each represent a table. Say you want to take an order from table 1. You press it and find yourself the entire menu. That's how you take their order, by pressing whatever they order and it'll register onto the table. The button turns red, meaning that it hasn't been paid yet. Once you print out the bill, it'll turn blue, meaning you gave them the bill. Then after you collect the payment, you have to hover the tablet over the screen on the cashier so that the payment is registered. It's also the only way for you to open the shelf and put the money. Remember to close it after you finish using it. Each. And every. Fucking. Time,"** he added exasperatedly. **"Got it?"**

 **"Got it,"** she nodded. She put on her bib and took the pad off his hands and headed out of the kitchen to leave her cranky boss in peace. She only needed to be told once most of the time and she knew what to do. She watched Felix and did her best to offer the friendliest smile she could; which was small, dainty and shy but good enough for customers to feel welcome and compliment her for the service.

Most of the time, she felt as though she was doing the same thing. Clean the glasses and mugs, mop the table, brush the crumbs of your bib, sweep the floor a little; lather-rinse-repeat and the only thing that breaks the mundane schedule was when a new customer asks for an order and she found out that she actually likes going to people; even if it was just asking for their orders. Some of the regulars asked if she was knew since they never saw her before and she answered "yes" promptly. Sometimes they ask if she is a student and were particular charmed to know that she goes to VBA, and sometimes they ask where she came from and she felt that she evasively by saying, **"I lived in a big city once but decided to move to a smaller town and I like it a lot better here."** That seemed to appease the curiosity of the people easily enough even if it didn't really answer their question. Shears would sometimes peek through the kitchen to see how she is getting along with her patrons and didn't find any trouble.

 _'She learns fast, I'll give her that,'_ he thought as he went back to the kitchen.

The afternoon came and there were more people who came in for lunch and coffee. At first, she was a little overwhelmed but with Felix' easy-going smile and encouragement she managed to pull through and sometimes Shears would come out of the kitchen and switch duties with her to let her have a break. Late afternoon when most of the people were gone and a few stragglers remained, Tifa took the liberty to turn on the jukebox at the corner and was delighted to hear the first song.

 _'I, I will be king_

 _And you, you will be queen_

 _Though nothing will drive them away_

 _We can beat them, just for one day_

 _We can be Heroes, just for one day'_

At first her head bobbed slightly to the familiar rhythm that she grew up with, then her feet tapped rhythmically on the floor, finally her hips swayed a little to the movement and in a graceful swaying fashion she walked behind the bar. Her blond colleague had a better idea and took her hand and playfully spun her around. Before they knew it, they were grinning silly and danced behind the bar tab as people watched. A new customer had just joined in and he was greeted with a scene where a young cute waiter and a sultry brunette danced behind the bar. Shears watched from the kitchen and leaned against the door but he didn't plan on telling them off as he was enjoying the show; even if they were being slightly silly and unprofessional. That was the beauty about living in Rubrum; it wasn't like Midgar where everything is cold and people expected a neat square. In Rubrum, you can afford to relax. He still believed that time was money but that didn't mean he couldn't afford to lose a few seconds for the sake of a good working environment.

The new customer was a teenager, maybe a little older than Tifa and he had the makings of what will make him a handsome young man. His hair was golden and came up to his shoulders, but it was stylized into several choppy layers that let the tips of his golden locks defy gravity somewhat as if he was making his own wind. He was tanned with large dark blue eyes full of knowledge and mirth. He couldn't keep his eyes off of the girl that danced to one of his favorite songs. He silently prayed that he will see her again and plans to see her every day until he can get her name.

His heart nearly dropped when the said waitress came to his table and asked politely, **"Hello. What can I get you?"**

Her demeanor was much more sincere and cheerful now that she has performed her giddy girly dance in front of everyone and was glad that Shears didn't complain either. The boy gaped like a fish and wanted to slap himself for losing his cool in front of a girl that's probably younger than him. **"Um… uh… let's see here. I'll take the usual. I mean um… I'd like a chocolate éclair and some, uh… black coffee!"** he stammered. Tifa patiently tapped down his order on the tablet and said, **"One éclair and one black coffee, coming right up."**

This was different as she would usually say, _'I'll be back with your order.'_ The wonders music can do for the soul.

As she walked past Shears into the kitchen. She didn't notice her boss glaring at the stammering customer and feeling protective of the girl and thought to warn him off a bit. But then thought better of it because he didn't hit on her at all and he is a rich kid and a new regular patron. Tifa simply took out the freshly baked éclair and placed it on a small plate and prepared a cup of black coffee for the new customer and placed it on the tray. Picking up the tray she wordlessly motioned Shears to move out of the way, which he did, and passed by him to give the customer his order. She didn't even feel the customer's eyes roam her body before attempting to look at her eyes and cursed his luck at the way her bangs would cleverly swing over her eyes to block the view but he could tell from the first time he looked at them that they were reddish brown with flecks of amber in them; an interesting combination. He was thinking of ways to have a look at her and decided on something clever. After enjoying his éclair and the small moments where he could allow herself to look at the waitress, he asked for the bill and said that he'll immediately pay up.

She nodded and had her pad ready to bring out the bill. He took out the cash and paid some more as tips before finishing the last of his bitter black coffee and winced.

Tifa went back to the cashier and registered the money. Then she caught a glance at the boy that suddenly left the café as if in a hurry leaving behind his wallet. Little did she know, that the boy 'accidentally' forgot his wallet. His plan worked which made him smirk. Tifa quickly walked out of the bar tab and picked up his wallet. She opened it out of curiosity and her eyebrows raised to find his student ID and saw that he's name is Trey Cognitio; and he was in Class-Zero.

 **"Excuse me."**

 **"Yes?"** he turned almost too expectantly.

 **"You left your wallet."**

 **"Oh… oh! Right how silly of me. Thank you,"** he said as he took it from her, hoping that he was good at pretending.

 **"You're welcome. Thank you for your patronage,"** she bowed her head and went back into the café.

 _'Wow… she's all business. But… I still hope to see her again. Wait till I tell King and Jack. Maybe I can make Nine jealous too,'_ Trey thought as a sheepish grin graced his face.

It was almost evening and Shears thought that it Tifa's working shift is over for now. He explained that there was no way in hell he was going to let her work during 'Happy Hours' when they get to bring out the booze and she understood. She does not really want to get surrounded by drinks plus she was six years underage. She bid her boss and colleague goodbye and took the tram home. Elfé wasn't there but she left a note saying that she forgot to buy the milk and will be right back. So Tifa took the time to call Raines and tell him how her first day at work went. Shears even paid her a total of whopping sum of 280 Gil and the money felt motivated for her to go to work the next day.

 **"So. What do you think of Shears?"** Raines asked.

 **"He… is nice, I guess,"** she offered hesitantly.

 **"Not a people person is he?"**

Tifa chuckled at this and said, **"Actually, he kind of reminds me of Highwind except he doesn't swear as much as he does. Sometimes I call Highwind Captain-Swears-A-Lot behind his back… Don't tell him that. Please don't."**

 **"Pfft... that just about sums up Highwind. But anyway, I'm glad you're doing well, Tifa. Thank you for calling me."**

 **"Sure,"** and they hung up.

Elfé came back and conceded in letting Tifa do the cooking after much bargaining and she prepared a delicious Fettucine Alfredo; it's a light dish perfect for dinner and Elfé knew that if she is somewhat decent, then Tifa is a great cook.

 **"Oh my god, it's so good! Where did you learn to cook like that?"**

 **"I lived alone most of my life and had to learn by myself somehow. I'm glad it payed off."**

 **"Wow. Just wow. You are amazing, Tifa. You really are."**

Tifa blushed a little and they passed their first dinner time amiably. This time Tifa didn't join her for late night TV as she wanted to get used to sleeping early and waking up early once school starts. So she asked Elfé for an envelope and a piece of paper and took them upstairs to her room. She sat down on the study table and looked at the blank sheet of paper which is the total opposite of everything Tifa wanted to say in her mind. Tifa used to write letters to Zangan as he told her that sometimes writing helps express ones feelings and lets one have a stronger sense of imagination. She doesn't know about the imagination part of the argument but she owes a letter to someone very important. The clock in her room ticked by and as she thought about how to start this letter. If she doesn't finish it by today, then she'll continue it tomorrow and that's what she did.

 _'To hell with proper writing, I'm just going to write how I feel!'_ she thought rebelliously and didn't care for letter writing etiquette. She has done enough diplomacy for today.

 _'Dear Aerith,_

 _Can you believe that I'm finally in Rubrum? It's a beautiful town, so peaceful yet lively. I have an awesome roommate who likes late night TV, practices Kendo… and by the way her name is Elfé. The Elfé. You know, the one that defeated Sephiroth. I didn't recognize her yesterday night but when I sat down for breakfast with her, all woken up and ready to start the new day, I found myself overwhelmed. Then I got used to it because Elfé was such a normal girl. Then I got a job in the cute café. Elfé's cranky boyfriend owns it. He's a nice person, he's just cranky. I also met a cute waiter named Felix. On the first day of work, I danced with him in front of everybody behind the bar tab to one of my favorite songs. You know the one.'_

She stopped there as she didn't know what else to write.

 _'So this is what it feels like to have writer's block. What a bitch,'_ she thought sardonically.

But she eventually had things to write.

On Tuesday she added, _'After work on Tuesday, I went to the Rubrum shopping mall to get my sizes for my school uniform. I'll tell you one thing, I am not ever going to wear a fucking skirt. Fortunately, they have pants for girls two which are like skinny jeans and they are really stylish. The only problem I have with that is that they are off-white color which means it'll get dirty but fortunately there is a black version of it too. I can imagine you wanting to take many pictures already.'_

And on Wednesday she wrote, _'There is this guy that comes to the coffee shop every day. His name is Trey and he is always losing something. I don't know if he's forgetful or if he's trying to get my number. He's kinda cute… but I'm not into blondes. Aerith, I can feel a teasing comment bubbling up already and I suggest you pipe down.'_ Even Tifa found herself snorting at that.

On Thursday she wrote, _'I never stopped thinking about you. I miss you.'_

On Friday she added, _'Felix is leaving tomorrow. It's a shame because I've grown to like the guy. I'm sure Zack will like him because they are such cheerful people. He kinda reminded me of him except Zack is a flirt and he isn't. Maybe I'll see him in JIGS. You never know, Junon is a huge place.'_

On Saturday she finalized the letter with the words, _'Aerith, I wish you were here with me. I want to share my world with you. I'm sorry I didn't before. But that world was so miserable. This world is happier. It's better. It's safer too. I really miss Zack and Cloud too… my two favorite fraternal chocobo-twins. I miss Yuffie too. Even if she is a spoiled brat that steals my stuff… I miss you. I love you so much. Forgive me Aerith.'_

Sighing she signed it and put it in the envelope. She did not want to send the letter by post because then someone can find her return address and she does not want to see Zack and/or Cloud outside her doorstep in Rubrum, as much as she loves them. But this letter helped her make an important decision. Every week, she was going to write a letter like this to Aerith and finish it by Saturday. Then when she visits Aerith in Midgar, she will place near Aerith's hospital bed. She'll also make sure that Zack and Cloud are out of the way and visit very late at night so that the only one who can find it is Elymra and she can hand it over to Ifalna. That sounded like a good plan. She was almost proud of it.

She went to sleep that night and mentally prepared herself for her first day of school.

* * *

 **A/N:** What do you guys think? Like how I alluded to  Dissidia? There are some things I feel you guys should know:

1) In case some of you don't know Elfé is a badass girl in the game Final Fantasy VII – Before Crisis; a mobile game that features the previous incarnation of AVALANCHE and a group of Turks that you have the choice to name. She's in par with Sephiroth himself and that says something.

2) Shears was a member of the previous AVALANCHE who died to protect Elfé. I will not spoil it anymore for you. In this story, I made him related of Snow Villiers, a playable character from Final Fantasy XIII because I felt that their looks and style resemble each other, only Snow is a fun guy whose really rash and Shears is seriously jaded but very good at forming strategies.

3) Nunchaku is a bonus playable character Before Crisis game; where you get to play as a Turk. You even get to choose their real names however you want but their code name is always after their weapon. Nunchaku uses Nunchaku. Most of these playable Turks however, had a name during the sketches by Studio Madhouse. But Nunchaku and Knife didn't since they are 'bonus playable Turks. According to Final Fantasy Wiki, Nunchaku was born in Bone Village and is a cheerful, optimistic guy and gets along with everyone. So that's why I named him Felix which means 'happy' in most European languages. I was too lazy to think up of a surname so I went with Nunchaku.

4) So we finally meet a member of Class-Zero! FINALLY! And we meet Trey. Do you guys know the alternate ending of Type-0? Where everything is normal without history of the crystals? If you, do then you can probably guess where I am going with this ;D I gave Trey's last name 'Cognitio' which means 'knowledge' in Latin. Yes I chose a Latin name for a surname because the word 'Agito' is Latin for 'put in motion' or 'action'. There is also the fact that Trey represents 'knowledge' part of humanity. He's going to be a fun character to play out, I can't wait!

5) The song featured is 'Heroes' by David Bowie and belongs to David Bowie (R.I.P). The reason I chose to mention this song is because... oh the irony. For those who get it, you know what I mean. And those who don't I really don't want to spoil the game or the fanfiction for you.

6) Devil May Cry in our universe is a video game series and in this fanfiction universe, an action television series. Yeah, TV works in mysterious ways there haha xD

7) **DISCLAIMERS: Any of the characters mentioned in this fanfiction belong to Square Enix. Devil May Cry is a video game series and property of CAPCOM. 'Heroes' is a song composed and written by David Bowie.**

So there you have it! Another filler chapter I admit. But I hope you enjoyed it all the same. **R &R and I will love you forever!** Thank you so much **Carrie88** & **JammyWammy** for your ever encouraging reviews. You guys make me want to write more!


	5. Colorful Personalities

**Colorful Personalities**

* * *

 **Monday, September 1, 2X03.**

* * *

It is a universal fact that the first day of school was never easy and being the new kid sucks. The feeling of nervousness was like butterflies in your stomach; but for Tifa it felt like her guts come to life and ate her heart out, chewed it, and then spit it back inside its proper place in her chest, then repeated the process. She didn't even have much appetite in the morning which was why Elfé shoved cereal bars forcefully into her pockets. She waited at her tram and her 'days-off-roommate' was there with her, stroking her back, giving her moral support. **"So. No skirt, tomboy?"** she quipped.

 **"They are things of blasphemy,"** Tifa groused, in an uncharacteristically deep voice.

Elfé bit her lower lip to bite down a laugh and kept stroking her back. **"You'll be fine. And anyway, like I said before, you look really pretty in your uniform. Smart, chic. They even gave you a matching bag with your full name on it. I wish I had a uniform."**

Smiling in agreement, she commented, **"I'd say they make pretty good mementos,"** she agreed as she patted her new bag. The worn backpack was gone and the messenger bag was in. Tifa had to admit that she was getting ready for ugly uniforms with those hideous plaid skirts but she was glad to find that even though she does have her skirts, the uniform was incredibly chic with some of the best seams she had ever seen in her life. She did have some reservations about the red cape that draped her back midway and hung around her shoulders with a golden cuff to keep it in place. She found it clever how they essentially created a cape, a temporary hoodie (for rainy seasons), scarf and a chic tie in one go with a simple red cloth; she liked the coloring very much.

 _'If only it didn't remind me of that weirdo I keep seeing in my visions. Why haven't I met him yet?'_

 **"Your tram is here,"** Elfé announced, **"Have a great first day at school."**

 **"Thanks. You too,"** Tifa said as she boarded the tram and waved at her before the tram doors closed shut. She was sure that Elfé will have a good day because she is in university and experience taught her that High School was a cesspit of hormonal teenagers with tendencies to be obnoxious, uppity, peer pressured, or just flat-out weird. Each time Tifa reminded herself that this wasn't Midgar anymore, the more anxious she felt. So anxious, that she decided to find the closest seat lest her knees buckle and she'll create a scene where she cries. It was a lovely warm day but she couldn't help but feel cold all over… and very confused.

Her brooding thoughts were interrupted rudely by a lazy voice that said, **"Oooh… someone's got a big chip on her shoulder. And lots and lots of salty tears. Damn, gurl~ Ya gotta learn take life by balls. Baaaaalls, I say. _Baaaaalls_!"**

With furrowed brows, Tifa muttered, **"Err… excuse me?"** But when she turned her head to see the source of the lazy voice he found a tall woman with full features and long, large blue dreadlocks decorated with beads.

One couldn't mistake her identity.

The light blue tinge on her skin was a dead give-away too.

 _'Just my fucking luck! I am sitting next to a god. And thanks to her, my ass is freezing!'_ Tifa immediately sat up, as if to avoid the seat like it was infested by a flesh eating virus and the blue haired woman looked clearly affronted.

 **"Hey what's yo problem gurl?! I just wanted to talk to you 'cause you look so anxious _man_. See what did'ja do to me, gurl? I'm using all those big baa-loo-loo words. I prefer sayin' things like 'Shama-wama-moomoo' and make it happen, you know what I'm sayin' chika?"**

 **"Shiva,"** Tifa stated monotonously but her nerves were already frayed.

 **"The one and on _leh_ , gur _leh_!"**

 **"I don't want your drugs,"** Tifa replied flatly and stormed down the aisle in the tram thinking, _'Gotta get away from this hippie-goddess! Gotta get away! Gotta get away! Get away! Get away! Get away!'_ She yelped when she felt a gold hand grip her forearm and raised her other fist to aim a punch but Shiva blocked effectively with her remaining palm.

 **"Woah-woah-woah, wait a minute gurl! You be makin' a scene, peeps be lookin' if you cause shit an' be like bitches be trippin' an all that,"** the hippie-goddess hissed, **"Sit down. I wanna let you listen to somethin' funny."**

Tifa obeyed, but didn't let her guard down as she sat down carefully and was grateful that Shiva didn't sit next. She watched the Goddess of Water turn on a bulky retro radio player balanced at her hip and tune the radio until she finally found the local current-event news station. Even when Tifa ignored the very existence of gods and didn't give much damn about their importance in the world, she was mildly curious as to what Shiva had in store for her. From what she knew, Shiva was an artist of some sorts and famous for her ice sculptures. She was also an avid supporter of marijuana and always had a stash of 'happy pills'. Tifa dare not think what these pills contain which was why she was most anxious to get off the tram and wait for the next one. Finally her ears perked at the local news as the professional voice of Beatrix Steiner.

 **"… and it has been confirmed that the famous director, Genesis Rhapsodos had promised us a new reinterpretation of the epic poem 'LOVELESS' in three different movies. The first is expected to come out in cinemas of Cocoon and Midgar in December. In other news, Ifrit, also known as the God of Fire had been found by the authorities, under the rubble in a construction site Downtown Rubrum... with his foot stuck in the refrigerator… that was hung upside down on a crane."**

 _'What the fuck?!'_ Tifa looked at Shiva with an accusatory look. She wasn't accusing him of putting fucking Ifrit in that situation but for wasting her precious minutes on this bunch of fiddlesticks. To her dismay, the reporter Beatrix Steiner wasn't finished.

 **"The Rubrum authorities have also reported explicitly that the fiery demon-god had a banner coming out of his breaches … and… ahem… attached to a bong tied around his waist saying the following:** ** _'I emptied your fridge you mudda-fucka-ass-toast. I also put forks and ice in your microwave. Haha, ya simply couldn't resist that dumb-apple pie could'ja? You had to heat it. And now ya lost yo' fort, you explosive-happy-mudda-fucka. Pay back's a bitch, bitch!'_** **The authorities, understandably, refused to make any further comment. In their attempts to bring Ifrit out of his humiliation, one officer was had the misfortune to make an unwise comment and is currently in a hospital breathing through a tube. This is Beatrix Steiner, reporting live from Downtown Rubrum. Back to you Refia."**

Shiva was peeling with laughter and the people inside the tram immediately knew who the culprit of this prank was and pretty soon, so will the entire world. And everyone knows when Shiva and Ifrit are going to play a game of 'catch-the-blue-bitch' or 'run-bitch-run' all around Rubrum, collatoral damage will happen. Again.

Tifa was not amused.

Clearing her throat, she asked, **"Shiva, what does this have to do with, as you so _eloquently_ put it, grabbing life by the balls?"**

 _'Because in all honesty, you are a crazy, dirty, hippy with a death wish, even if I think that Ifrit is an asshole. And didn't she date Ifrit for a bit. Everyone should be sick of their on-and-off relationship by now. And the fuck does she know about my 'chip' on the shoulder? Better yet, why is she even bothering me?'_ Tifa thought bitterly.

 **"Exactly that! Ya gotta have fun, ya know what I'm sayin, chika? Ya can't be worryin' about every lil' thang-a-thing-thing, yo! What cha ma call it, this thing ya young folks say…? Oh! YOLO! YOLO, gurl! YOLO!"**

 _'Right, YOLO, meaning you only live once. Thanks for the cheap advice. I don't need this shit.'_ Tifa looked up at the tram map printed on the top borders of the tram and saw that she has landed right on the stop as she observed the tiny light dim at the stop 'Vermillion Bird Academy'. Without even bidding Shiva farewell or exchanging words of thanks she stood up suddenly and roughly passed by her to exit the tram. She froze when she felt her cold hand hold her shoulder but didn't move

That was Tifa's language for _'I'm listening, but not talking to you, so make it quick'_. Shiva gave her a soft gentle smile and no longer used her fake hippie lingo, **"Have a good first day at school. And make friends."**

Tifa considered her words for a while and jerked her shoulder and let the train doors slide close behind. She vaguely heard Shiva complain about her rudeness but she didn't give much thought as she stomped her way to the gates of her school. She suddenly stopped to a halt and took in the finely curved words of metal alloy written over the gate, large and in full glory, 'Vermillion Bird Academy'. She didn't miss the fact that the school was called an 'academy' and not 'high school'. The difference between the two words made Tifa truly feel that if she was to take one more step, she would belong to an institution far more prestigious that a country-born girl could ever hope for in her future. But she was here. Shiva's ineloquent advice echoed through her mind as she stared at the gates and into the gates where she observed the most impressive campus students could only dream of.

With renewed determination Tifa walked into the Academy.

 _'One step, two steps, three steps and many more steps to go. Let's keep walking forward. Each step I take, I dedicate to you, Aerith.'_

* * *

 **"All students new to VBA, please report to Principal Chival's office. I repeat, all students new to VBA, please report to Principal Chival's office. Thank you."**

After this announcement, the school's personal radio station played some music, most notably Yuna's long time hit song, 'What can I do for you'. Every little detail was testament to how different Tifa's academic life will be from today onward. This school has a student-run radio, dormitories, the most stylish uniforms with red capes, customized weather proof bags with one's full name on it, and not to mention a campus with all the facilities one could enjoy. It was as if a clever architect had transformed what was once a castle into a beautiful school ground for adolescents.

Now, there was only one problem with heeding to the announcement: finding the damn office. This school was huge and the layout of the corridors were like that of a maze. Tifa didn't so much as get a tour around the place and worse, she was too nervous to ask anyone. But she wanted to use her own smarts and used the school map from the brochure. She had hoped that her training in martial arts will enable her to walk through the maze of corridors and hallways of the school without looking at her feet or away from the map which was her substitute for a blindfold. Unfortunately for her, the hallway was filing with uniformed students and she bumped into one who was in a big hurry. Consequently, they both tripped and fell on the floor.

 **"Hey watch it!"**

Tifa looked up to see a girl with white hair tied in a messy pony tail and a spiky bang covering her right eye and she looked very annoyed. **"I'm really sorry!"** Tifa hurriedly apologized and picked up her map, and something else. After getting up, she extended her hand and the girl promptly took it, but her body language showed that she was in a grouchy mood as she brushed her skirt.

 **"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking. I was just trying to find the Principal's office."**

The white haired girl looked up at her and fished around her skirt pockets in her vest. Suddenly, Tifa realized that she wasn't just holding a map. She carefully looked at the other item in her hand and saw a pretty pink envelope with a heart. Tifa blushed, realizing what it was. Using one hand to cover her face in unnecessary embarrassment, she handed the envelope to her. **"Here, you dropped this."**

The girl's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. **"Give me that!"** she snapped and snatched the envelope from her hand and carefully put it in her pocket as she frantically looked from left to right, hoping that no one saw. Tifa swallowed and cursed the ice goddess she met earlier, blaming her for giving her bad luck on her first day. It wasn't as if she was prying either. **"I'm sorry. Excuse me…"** she carefully walked around her until she felt a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

 **"Hey wait! It's my bad too. I was in a rush and I didn't see where I was going either."**

The girl felt somewhat bad for snapping at the brunette like that, so in exchange, she decided to help her out. **"You said you were looking for the Principal's office, right? Are you new?"**

Tifa turned to face her and offered a weak smile, **"Yes. And I'm new to Rubrum too."**

 **"I figured as much. Come, I'll show you where it is."**

Tifa graciously accepted her offer and followed the girl to the office where she was needed for administrative purposes. There was also the fact that she would have to explain briefly that she was protected by The Council.

 **"And here you are. The school's a maze at first and it's easy to get lost on the first day. But you'll get used to it,"** the girl shrugged.

 **"Thank you. I'll find a way to pay you back somehow,"** Tifa said sincerely, **"I'm Tifa by the way."**

 **"Sice. Nice to meet you. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go!"** she dashed away.

Tifa felt a sigh of relief that this didn't end up in a total disaster and opened the door to the office. There were other students who were new just like her. Some stood around while the others waited. A man with auburn hair and sharp golden eyes made eye contact with her and asked, **"Excuse me? Are you here to submit the registration form?"** Tifa assumed that he must be one of the staff assistants or secretaries that work in this school.

 **"Yes,"** she answered simply, not knowing what to expect.

 **"I'd like to see it, please."**

Tifa unbuckled and lifted the flap of her messenger bag and pulled out a crisp piece of paper folded into three even parts and handed it over to the secretary. After taking a moment to briefly go through her form his brows raised and he pushed his glasses up his nose to take a good look at her. **"My, my, it's the scholarship student from Midgar. The teachers and staff talked about you a lot Miss Lockhart,"** he said with a smile. The students behind her whispered among themselves when they heard this and Tifa wanted to crawl in the corner.

 _'He didn't have to say it out loud in front of people! It's not like I'm embarrassed… I just don't like the attention.'_

The man gave a serious look to the gossiping people behind her and they stopped before turning to smile at the girl. **"Sorry. Last time we had a Class-Zero scholarship student like you, it had been a while. There was Cid Raines, Sephiroth Crescent, and Garnet Alexandros to name a few. Congratulations, by the way. I'm Lean Hampelmann. But call me Joker."**

 **"… Joker?"**

 **"Joker,"** he reaffirmed, **"I'm actually the school doctor but Tiz had to cancel her flight back to Rubrum for some reason so here I am doing secretarial work. Anyway, it's not often that I get to meet Class-Zero students up close and personal. So come and visit me from time to time."**

 **"Sure… but why are you called Joker?"** she asked. His nickname made her fret. _'God I hope he's not a trigger-happy-kill-happy-bomb-happy-fetish-happy-type that's a serious fan of the Joker from the Batman novella,'_ she prayed.

 **"Well… I don't really like my name. So I thought it was a good idea to pick a nickname after a famous fictitious villain,"** he grinned, **"And to break the stereotype that doctors don't have a good sense of humor. Or charm."**

 **"… Right."**

 **"Oh, Principal Chival asked that I call him immediately once you arrive here."**

He took his smartphone and dialed his number, passing the message that the scholarship student has arrived. Upon receiving his approval he hung up and informed, **"You may go through that door. No need to knock."**

 **"Thank you,"** she said politely.

 **"Oh and a polite one too! You're most welcome, Miss Lockhart,"** he waved.

Tifa opened the designated door that was labelled 'Khalia Chival – Principal – Director' in bold and black on the glass pane and poked her head through to see an elderly gentlemen with a shaggy beard. His hairstyle vaguely reminded her of … only he was imposing as he was good-looking and charismatic. Principal Chival on the other hand had the air of respectability, nobility and humility; the complete opposite of Principal Shinra and Vice Principal Heidegger.

 **"Come in,"** he beckoned gently.

Tifa smoothly let herself into the room and stood before the Principal. She was utterly rigid and she dared not help herself with a seat until he asked her to. Her rigidity did not go amiss.

 **"Please, take a seat,"** he offered with a smile.

Swallowing a nervous lump she did as she was told but her posture was very rigid. Her knees were pressed tightly together, her bag was off her shoulder and on the ground next to her feet and her hands were placed on top of her knees; it looked as if she was trying her hardest to look dainty and humble and it took her a while to be brave enough to look at Principal Chival's face.

 **"How do you find Rubrum?"** he asked suddenly.

She was surprised to hear such a humble question that she couldn't help but reply in the manner she usually does. _'Be polite. Be diplomatic. Be nice. Be good,'_ she would tell herself.

 **"I find the air to be cleaner here than Midgar. And the people are friendlier. I also find Akademia to be very charming."**

 **"I'm glad that you are adjusting well. When did you arrive?"**

 **"A little more than a week ago."**

 **"And who is your legal guardian."**

She was a little confused by this question and thought that perhaps he was testing her. But she would have to gloss through this as soon as possible and he didn't think that the Principal is the type to pry. **"I'm under CID protection. At the moment, the one who looks after me during the weekends and holidays is Felicia Verdot."**

Principal Chival knew very well that she was under CID protection and that she had been a victim and a witness of a crime. However, they also said that they will not betray her trust; they only ask him that he helps her enjoy a full and happy academic life in his school and from her impressive academic grades, she has deserved her place here.

 **"Will you tell me why you are under the protection of the Council?"** he finally asked.

A brick may have hit Tifa right on her head and she still wouldn't relieve herself from her rigid position. She took her time to formulate an intelligent reply and gloss over as much details as possible. **"I'm an orphan… I have not been adopted. I also saw something that I shouldn't have seen; I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The situation was so bad that I had to get the police involved. In the end, CID declared that I was not safe in Midgar and needed a change of scenery."**

When the Council explained her situation to him, they were a lot less vague but from his conversation with Cid Raines who was also an old student of his, he understood that she was not going to let her guard down that easily. Her rigid posture, her evasive answers and her polite and diplomatic ways to cover up her insecurities are her personal issues that she has to somehow solve by herself in his campus. In the end, Principal could only bid his time and observe from a distance for now.

 **"I understand. Well, let me personally congratulate you on your achievement. It must have been a great ordeal for you but I admire serious, determined students like you who carve their own destinies through willpower and dedication. I am glad that you have chosen our academy as a foothold to achieve your personal dreams and ambitions."**

Tifa visibly relaxed upon hearing his congratulatory speech. **"Thank you very much for this opportunity, Principal Chival. I can only promise to do my best."**

 _'And find what my dreams and ambitions truly are,'_ she added in her mind. **"I am… a little worried about the studies though. I'm not worried about physical education. But I am worried about the academics. I know that there is a big gap in the education system between Midgar High and the academy. To whom can I go to in order to catch up?"**

The Principal liked that she addressed her worries immediately regarding her studies and wasn't one to beat around the bush. **"I suggest you talk to Ace Acceptum. He's the youngest but intellectually the sharpest. Perhaps he can help you. You may also seek Queen Prudentia. She has an admirable trait of being concise when confronted with vast amounts of information and know-how. But... I believe the gaps is not that high. I explored the education standard between Midgar and the Academy, but I don't think it will be so much of a problem for you."**

 **"Thank you. I hope they'll help me,"** she sighed, still feeling unsure.

 **"Do not worry about your performance in the first week. Take that week to learn what to expect of your exams and then I am sure you can give an excellent performance,"** he advised kindly. **"Now, I believe it is time for you to collect your student ID and the key card to your dorm room. Be sure to be at the school auditorium by 8 o' clock."**

 **"Yes, Principal Chival. And again, thank you so much."**

 **"You're most welcome, Tifa Lockhart,"** he nodded and dismissed her.

* * *

Tifa found the auditorium easily without looking at the map as she was following the other students where she observed was an influx of students filing into to a certain room. She wouldn't really call this room an auditorium but more like a highly sophisticated amphitheater with red cushion chairs and a large, wide stage at the front. She found herself choosing a random row and ended up sitting next to a boy with reddish brown hair. She sat down quietly as she took in her surroundings but her thoughts were interrupted by the boy's question, **"Hey, haven't I seen you in JIGS before? With Maur and Judet?"** She turned her head and saw a familiar face, much to her surprise.

Her brows shot up as she answered, **"Um. Yes. How do you know Maur and Judget? They're my regular sparring partners… but I do remember seeing you a couple of times…"** she thought out loud and frowned, wondering if she had ever gotten around to knowing his name.

The boy offered her a wolf-like grin and said, **"Hi, I'm Alvis. Alvis Rod."**

 **"Tifa Lockhart,"** she introduced herself curtly.

 **"So where do you come from? I don't think I've seen you in this school at all. Obviously, you're new."**

 **"I moved from Midgar. Then I decided I needed a change of scenery and moved here. So far, I like what I've seen."**

Alvis looked a little affronted and hoped to find a kindred spirit that hated rules, school uniforms and hard-ass teachers and rolled his eyes at the idea of bumping into a goody-two-shoes. **"I don't. I mean, the facility is great and all, but I miss the street life,"** he replied honestly, not knowing why he is sharing this with her.

Tifa only looked mildly interested and replied, **"I think I have had too much of street life to last me a lifetime."** She hadn't meant to admit this in a joking manner but it elicited a laugh from Alvis.

 **"Then you must have come from the slums,"** he deduced with a crooked smile.

 **"Close enough. I was living in Sector 7,"** she rolled her eyes, not wanting to think about her old dingy apartment, her prostitute neighbor, a lousy drummer that lived on the floor above her and the sound of police sirens that disturbed the nights of Midgar along with the loudness of road rage.

 **"Rough,"** he commented curtly.

Tifa nodded and kept quiet as Principal Chival made himself present onto the podium and tested the microphone. A welcome speech was about to start along with discussions and mini-seminars of the teachers and staff of this school.

This whole session lasted for one whole hour.

But Tifa listened attentively while controlling a snicker that threatened to bubble out of her throat when she noticed Alvis snoring softly next to her. She even let herself have the luxury of having a mental image of Alvis drooling in his sleep.

* * *

 **"And remember,"** announced a voluptuous woman known as Ms. Emina Hanaharu, or simply, Ms. Emina, **"Today is half-day which means school is officially closed for today at noon. Feel free to roam the school grounds, make sure you reveal your cards to the security guard if you have permission to leave the premises during break hours and after-school hours. And most importantly, take the time to meet your roommates and settle down in your dormitories. I wish you all a wonderful first-day-of-school and we look most forward to starting a fruitful new academic year with all of you. Thank you."**

The premise of the morning seminar was simple; students are to go around and visit one class room after another and talk to each teacher there, ask them questions about their subject and what to expect from it and then finally check mark the subjects they are going to take for the next two years. Tifa asked Alvis if he wants to do the rounds with her and to her surprise he agreed… well, with a shrug of his shoulder and a curt answer. It was probably because they were both from Midgar that they decided to stick around for a while but she doesn't feel the need to try to sympathize with him. They both had a sense of independence.

Some of the teachers they met were… eccentric.

Mr. Kuja Tribal was an example of the most eccentric teacher one could possibly meet. Tifa schooled her face into a neutral look but she couldn't help but feel that his fashion sense is absolutely (yet delightfully) outrageous. He had silver hair with a slight tint of lavender tied in a high ponytail and blue eyes that promise nothing but mischief. His wore a garb that was skin tight around his torso that one can see refined curves of his trimmed abdomen and his sleeves were so loose that they might as well be gaping airways or substitute for wind tunnels instead of actual clothing. He also wore leather pants that screamed in protest every time he slightly moved and the boots he wore had heels that were a little too high for most men. It's the truth that men has to endure wearing at least one inch heels if they wish to wear dress shoes with their formal wear. Military boots have a little bit of heel to for both men and women. But Mr. Tribal's boots were high, with many complicated laces and studded with silver ornaments. On the subject of ornaments, he wasn't lacking of them either. He wore a pair of feather earrings and a matching feather pendant. On both his middle fingers, he wore large identical rings with dragon shaped patterns and had azure-colored stones for eyes.

 _'How in the world does he get away with dressing like that in VBA?'_

Tifa noticed those little details because Mr. Tribal immediately grabbed her hand and examined her fingers, his eyes were smiling as she so obviously tried to conceal her confusion at his behavior and his overall… _everything_.

 **"Hmm… you have pianist fingers. Very strong, but from something else. Are you a martial artist, young miss?"**

Tifa blinked in surprise and tilted her head sweetly wondering how he can figure this out just by looking at her hands. **"Yes. I've been practicing since very young."**

Mr. Tribal grinned and said, **"Hands. They never lie. They are the one, or rather, two, parts of your body you cannot disguise, no matter how clever you are. They tell all about a man or a woman. Being a musician, it's my duty to study the hands of my fellow musicians. It's also a trait we share with bartenders,"** he concluded light-heartedly, **"I've had many students who were athletic fighters. Some do archery, some wield swords and other such sharp objects, but I never had a student that takes the more direct approach and use the same hands to produce beautiful music… if that is what I am to expect from, young miss."**

The brunette bristled at this. She takes great pride in being a practitioner of martial arts and self-defense and vowed to use them for good and self-discipline. Just because she belonged to a class of punch-happy monks doesn't mean that she cannot appreciate art. She remembered her mother, how she would play every day for long hours and she would take the time to teach her only daughter her art. She was not a pianist but she was a piano teacher at the Nibelheim conservatory. Tifa was never one to idolize celebrities like Yuna or Tidus. Her mother was her personal idol. That's why even after her mother's death, she continued to go to the conservatory every day to practice. But Mr. Tribal didn't need to have her back story.

 **"I'm very adept with classical solo piano but I hope to move further from that,"** she responded.

 **"Then you have come to the right place, my dear. Just sticking to the classics is so… _gauche_ ,"** he wrinkled his nose with distaste. **"We are in the Era of Academics for the love of gods! We need to invent something new and exciting,"** he explained dramatically, spreading his arms wide as if to welcome a new age of existence that came a little too late. **"If I do not see an ounce of creativity in you in the first week, I suggest you change. That is, by principle, the only time you have to decide before changing courses. Succeed, and I will enlighten your path to the glory of music. Classics are necessary. I will be the first to say. But I crave for a reinterpretation. Much in the same way Genesis Rhapsodos reinterprets LOVELESS… it's too bad he doesn't do his personal spin off of 'I Want to Be Your Canary'. But you can't make everyone happy."**

 _'This is either going to be your worst nightmare of a teacher or the best teacher you've ever had.'_

Tifa didn't know how to respond to that but instead of feeling discouraged, she felt up for the challenge. She has to invent something new. Maybe she has to compose, reinterpret a song or classical music, do a remix or perhaps even song writing. The prospect of song writing was very appealing to her. **"I heard on the radio that Rhapsodos is making a LOVELESS trilogy film, said to be something completely new and unexpected. I look forward to seeing the first installment in cinema."**

 **"As do I, young miss. What is your name?"**

 **"Tifa. Tifa Lockhart."**

 **"Well then, Tifa. I hope you choose my class and I hope you stick with it."**

* * *

Despite the colorful variety of teachers they visited, the touring was a quiet one. But only because Tifa refused to answer any of Alvis' smack comments about others. Still, they stuck together and decided to take a break from the rounds in the school yard where they would part ways.

 **"I gotta see how my pals are doing. What are you going to do?"** Alvis asked.

 **"Probably just chill somewhere or go to the dorm to settle,"** she answered as she thought, _'The faster I do the second option the better. My shoulder's killing me!'_

The large microphone sounded and she recognized this to be the mathematics teacher Mr. Kurasame's voice making another announcement, **"May all students please submit your subject checklist to the secretary by 2PM. You will receive your time tables from there. I repeat, may all students please submit your subject checklist by 2PM. You will receive your timetable from there. Thank you."** The microphone clicked off.

 **"Or I'll do that right now and get it over with."**

 **"Okay, then I guess I'll see you later. Ciao,"** Alvis waved with a smirk and left.

Tifa went to find a bench under the shade of a maple tree that were already showing signs of autumn coming near in the way the lush green color degraded into bright orange and red. It looked as though the tree was on fire. She took out her pencil case and took a good look at the long list of subjects. Three of them were obviously compulsory as they were 'Language & Literature', 'Mathematics'. The rest was up to her and she chose the following: Psychology, Information Technology & Magitek, Music and Wutian (Level B - Intermediary). Physical education was optional and she took a good look at the three different options: Sports & Health, Gymnastics, Dissidia Prep Training. Tifa remembered Elfé's suggestion and encouragement. Tifa held her pen firmly but her hand was shaking at the wrist. Taking a deep breath, she gave the empty box next to the third option a brutal check mark and let go of her breath. _'_

 _Okay. What have I done? Is this right?! Is this even right?!'_

* * *

Not far from Tifa's location, a lone girl had just finished picking her own subjects as well. She enjoyed the breeze and the sound of leaves rustling with her eyes closed. After feeling well rested she hopped off the bench with a sweet **"Oopsy-daisy!"** and stretched her back like a cat. She embraced the weather with all her heart as her candy-red eyes gazed at the clear blue sky littered with small patches of clouds. Today was the first day of school and she was confident that this year will be an amazing year. She just had a good feeling. **"Uh-hum!"** she has decided to greet the first person she sees. So she looked to her left and saw a lone girl sitting on the bench looking over what she presumed was the list of subjects.

 _'Target... Found!'_ she thought cheerfully as she almost skipped her way to her direction and chimed in her sweet, husky voice, **"Helloooooo!"**

Tifa lifted her head as she checked her last subject and put the pen down looking up at her to find a young girl with pretty red eyes and silky brown hair that had a tint of mauve or dusty rose, she couldn't quiet place the exact shade but it made the friendly girl look all the more charming.

 **"Hello,"** she greeted shyly.

 **"I'm Rem. Rem Tokimiya. Are you new?"** she asked, her hands held behind her back adorably.

 **"It's funny how everyone can tell,"** Tifa replied with a chuckle, **"Yes. In fact, I'm still new to Rubrum. I've only been here for a little more than a week."**

 **"Really?"** Rem took an interest in the new girl and quickly helped herself to sit across her and observe the girl and she thought the brunette was very pretty with the way her hair shown a dark shade of copper under the sun. **"So what's your name? And where are you from?"**

Tifa blushed at her rudeness for forgetting to introduce herself as well. **"My name is Tifa. Tifa Lockhart. I came from Midgar."**

 **"Wow. That's far. You came from one corner of the planet to the opposite corner. Is it hard, being far from home?"**

Tifa laughed at her naïve question (not that she blamed her) and answered, **"I never really considered Midgar my home. I like Rubrum a lot. It's my kind of place."**

 **"You know, I came from a little village but due to circumstances I had to move here to live with a new family and a childhood friend."**

Tifa felt that her face has struck the brick wall of familiarity. She too came from a small village… with a childhood friend and suddenly she felt as though she can suddenly see herself in Rem except she is in a much healthier atmosphere (or at least she hoped) than Midgar. That's why her eyes glistened like bright rubies under the sun. Tifa thanked her expert skill in evasive answers to avoid all talk about her home town and let the girl assume she was Midgarian when she's in fact from the country side.

 **"So what about you? How did you find yourself here?"** Rem asked.

Tifa felt that if she gave anymore evasive answers, this girl was going to get more and more curious and prayed that she had the sense to not step into people's personal bubble.

 **"I actually live with a roommate. And I have a job here. I work in a café,"** she replied almost like a robot in order to tell half-truths as much as she could. She didn't lie, but she wasn't telling the entire story because it was too long and too complicated. She breathed in a little so that she could continue to sound less like a robot, **"My father figure moves around the globe a lot and he's constantly busy. So it's not practical that I keep moving from one place to another. I picked Rubrum to finish my studies before moving on to higher studies."**

 **"Oh, I see, I see. Sounds like you had quiet an adventure, huh? Hey do you want go with me to hand in the checklist?"**

 **"Sure, I'd love to Rem."**

And the two young girls went back inside the school to the secretary's office. On their way they talked about the subjects they were taking and Tifa content to know that even if she only shares two out of seven subjects with the sweet girl, she would still be able to see her more often.

* * *

The two girls had to separate ways with Rem profusely apologizing as she had to meet her friend, Machina, but promised to see her again soon. Tifa decided to go to the library to spend sometime in the library. She needed to borrow some books regarding revision and crash courses; books that were perfect for cramming in case there were things that she should know and catch up with.

Back in Midgar, she was used to studying ahead of others but now she was on the quest to fill in any possible gaps in knowledge. As she walked down the hallway, she noticed Mr. Kurasame being surrounded by a gaggle of girls and frowned. _'Okay, I get it. Mr. Mysterious and has a mask over his face. He could be hiding hideous piranha teeth behind his mask. Then we shall all see how sexy that is,'_ she thought bitterly as the girls rushed past her gossiping. She started walking again but was abruptly stopped when she heard a rough and insistent, **"Here!"**

Mr. Kurasame wasn't that far. Tifa was about five steps away from the scene and somehow she missed the presence of a chic silver-haired girl wearing black pants like Tifa. The said girl gasped as she clasped her heart, **"Is this for me?!"**

Tifa's eyes drifted to the familiar pink envelope she had seen this morning and then her eyes landed on the white-haired girl. If she remembered correctly, her name was Sice.

Sice looked up, confused as to why the voice was so feminine only to see that it was feminine because it did belong to a girl, much to her chagrin and embarrassment. Sice gasped and immediately denied the claim, squeezing it against her thighs to cover her shame. **"What?! N-no!"**

Mr. Kurasame made the wise decision to leave those two alone, and he'll probably never know that he misunderstood the situation. Tifa was standing there in witness of this accident and covered her mouth while shifting around awkwardly, not sure if she should laugh or run away.

Sice looked at the mathematics teacher's retreating form as she stammered, **"I mean, uh… err…"** The girl in question continued to blush and scratch her cheeks. Tifa decided to take the teachers example and walk away too until Sice called her out, **"Oi! Help me out of here!"**

Tifa turned and looked at her shamefaced. _'Perhaps I should help her! I mean she helped me find the Principal's office this morning… but what the fuck should I do in this situation?!'_

The accidental recipient of the letter continued to blush and explained, **"To be honest, I'd never really thought about it. I don't know what to say…"**

The red flags started to wave in its blaring colors as Tifa thought, _'Oh no! She's seriously considering the relationship!'_

Sice stomped her foot and exasperatedly reasoned, **"It wasn't for you!"** But the silver-haired girl was still giddy. Sice looked at Tifa in desperation, her eyes bugging out, begging for help and Tifa relunctantly decided that now was the time to step in. She cleared her throat and brought the older girl's attention and shifted about awkwardly, trying to find the first word to say. **"Uh… hello?"** she greeted awkwardly. The girl just tilted her head and said, **"Oh! Hello."**

 **"Um… Sice just said that the letter wasn't intended for you… actually,"** finally the creative juices started to flow into Tifa's brain as she formulated a lie, **"she was delivering that letter for someone else. It wasn't the first time she accidentally gave the same pink envelope to someone… she bumped into me first this morning. Apparently she's doing a favor for a girl but she's too shy to do it herself so Sice is doing it for her."** Tifa mentally congratulated her and Sice looked positively surprised and elated at Tifa's believable lie. She decided to take pointers from the girl one day on how to mold truths or half-truths with lies to make a believable story.

 **"Oh…"** Seven looked slightly disappointed and scratched the back of her head, laughing nervously, **"Well. This is awkward."**

Tifa's stomach felt like a sloshing fat pitcher of saline water and ice. _'You don't know awkward, woman!'_

 **"Don't worry. It happens to the best of us,"** she reassured with a soft smile. She made eye contact with Sice and she looked apologetic, awkward, unsure and even a little guilty.

 **"Well, I guess I should thank you for clearing up that misunderstanding,"** Seven said with a small laugh, **"Hey, I have never seen your face around here before. You must be new. I'm Seven Sentiendi,"** she extended her hand, **"Again, thanks for clearing that up."**

 **"Tifa Lockhart. And it's no problem at all. Uh, I'll see you guys later then. Sice,"** she nodded curtly at her and hurriedly left for the library.

* * *

The library was a labyrinth at first. Until Tifa discovered the easiness of the Akademian decimal system which made finding desired books ridiculously easy. There were also computer servers available for students should they wish to find a specific book or a type of book. The librarian was kind enough to lend her a hand and educated her on the decimal system which took few minutes before Tifa tapped furiously for the kind of books she would like to borrow for the week. She printed out the numbers and immediately ventured around the library until she found her desired bookshelf, labelled 'Revision & Crash courses' and they were further divided into multiple subjects. She took one book at a time and flipped through the pages, quietly absorbing the material in peace as she stood there. She skim read quickly through one book at a time. Sometimes she would place a book on the desk and others she would put right back into the shelf exactly how she found it.

However, her concentration was interrupted by a male voice that didn't bother to use the polite 'indoor' voice, specifically for libraries.

 **"Hmm, doing a little reading I see,"** observed a black haired boy with a unique Dracula-type cape. Tifa raised her brow at this but turned her face back to the book.

The younger blond boy he was talking to replied, **"You should try to think about doing a little reading yourself. It'll help you get into higher education."**

The black haired friend of his groaned and through his hands against his ears, crying, **"Aaaaaaaaargh! Not listening!"**

Tifa's eyes widened, half-expecting to see the boy will get into trouble for his complete disregard to library etiquette.

 **"Anyway, you said that you'd come with me today,"** he said as he pulled the blond boy by the elbow and dragged him out, **"Well, let's go!"**

 **"H-hey! Hold on! I have to return my book!"**

The black haired boy continued to pull at his friend's elbow, with every intent to take his nose out of those books and breathe some fresh air. **"Don't worry! You can return it later."**

 **"O-oi!"** the boy was exasperated but let himself get dragged out of the library.

 _'Well, that was something,'_ Tifa thought and sighed. She didn't know why she was feeling particularly helpful today. _'The Rubrum air must be getting to me. But should I even complain?'_

Doing just a little bit more reading herself she decided on the books she wanted to borrow and took a look at the book the boy left behind without returning it. She looked at the cover and saw that it was about Magitek and skim read through the first few chapters and thought, _'Huh. Maybe I should borrow this book later after him… I'll just return the book for him now.'_

She went to the librarian to check out her books and check-in the book the blond boy left behind, completely oblivious to the fact that the blond boy was in fact Ace Acceptum, whom Principal Chival mentioned could help her if she's struggling with the gap between standards.

She also realized that she should have taken the time to find her dorm room first before coming to the library now that she is carrying two big loads; one pressed against her chest and another hung around her shoulders. However, certain things couldn't be helped so Tifa carried on with the struggle to find her dorm room.

* * *

The number on Tifa's keycard was EWD-025; which meant East-Wing Dormitory for Class-Zero and from what she understood, was co-ed; both boys and girls. At first she was a little irked by this but understood that due to the small number of students in class-zero compared to the other classes, it saves more money to just shove them all in one wing. Besides, there were two separate floors for each gender and Tifa decided that she could comply with that. The school even turned the first floor into a lounge full of couches and a well-stocked mini-fridge full of drinks and snacks. The number '25' meant that she was to go to the second floor and enter room number 5.

Placing her books carefully on the floor, Tifa fished for her keycard in her bag and slid it smoothly through the security lock.

 _'Wow, it has the same mechanism as a fancy hotel.'_

The door clicked open and she gently pushed through with her shoulder and used her heel to shut the door behind her. The room was around one-half bigger than the one in the house she shares with Elfé and at each side there was a single bed. One of them already had the impression that someone had sat on it and Tifa assumed that it was already claimed. She dropped her bag and books on the opposite bed and found a lime-green post-it on her bed which read:

 _'Dear Tifa Lockhart,_

 _Hello my new roomie! I'm so excited to finally get to meet you. It's been such a long time since I had a roomie! I hope that we'll be great friends and do lots of stuff together. Can't wait to see you in person! XOXO – Cinque Innocenti'_

Just from looking at the kiss-hug symbols, Tifa thought that her new roommate was going to be awfully friendly and hoped that they will get along well together. Or there is something about Rubrum culture she had missed.

She pocketed the note and started unpacking her really heavy bag. Another stupid mistake Tifa made on her part; she didn't buy a proper suitcase. She put all her school uniform articles, pajamas and shoes in the wardrobe that was found at the corner of the room next to the window. On the other side, just in front of Cinque's bed, there was a laptop and a clutter of Polaroid pictures all over it.

She took a curious look at one of them which turned out to be a quirky selfie of a girl with long braided ginger hair and teal eyes. She observed that the girl had fluffy bangs and spinning curls curved at each side of her head. Suddenly the picture morphed into another girl as her bangs separated to reveal more forehead and the hair color turned into familiar chestnut brown. All blueish hues of her eyes were gone and replaced with vivid green eyes that she knows so well. The vision of the girl had a demure, graceful smile on her face and her melodic voice penetrated through her psyche as she called out her name, **"Tifa."**

Tifa gasped and dropped the Polaroid picture and hurriedly stepped back until her knees buckled underneath her and she collapsed on her bed. Her chest heaved up and down with labor as she caught her heart at her chest. She gulped and released a shaky breath. Her mind was blank. She didn't dare look at the Polaroid again for fear of what she was going to see next.

Her racing mind was interrupted by the muffled buzz of her cellphone. Relieved by the classic smartphone save, she took out her phone and saw that she has received a message from Cid Highwind. Tifa's mood perked up a little, since she hasn't heard from him all week but she knew that he was a busy man. She tapped into her inbox and exchanged text messages with him.

* * *

 **CID** : Sorry about tardiness. Was gonna call ya earlier. Honest! By Ifrit's ball sacks, I keep gettin' shit from ass-prez Shinra and his fat-cat tag-alongs. Anyway, how ya been, kid?

 **TIFA** : And here I thought you forgot all about me. Jokes. I'm good, today was the 1st day of school and it's going well. Also, I have a home to go back to. I have two roommates. It's strange but nice.

 **CID** : Raines really took good care o things. Glad to hear, kid. I'll drop by in Oct. Old Khalia wants me to make one o those seminar things. Shit, do I look like the teaching type?

 **TIFA** : No…unless you can get away with being called Prof. Swears-a-Lot.

 **CID** : Cheeky kid!

 **TIFA** : xD

 **CID** : Well take care of urself, Tif.

 **TIFA** : U2.

* * *

After experiencing that vision of Aerith, she felt emotionally drained and sent Shears a text asking him if she could come to help today. He agreed and told her to come when she's ready. It's a good thing that the hours in the café are rather flexible and the sooner she gets to talk to him about her newly acquired timetable the better.

Taking her bag she left the room hurriedly and stopped herself at the granite veranda. She took the time to meditate the reasoning behind why she suddenly saw Aerith. Cinque has a long braid. So does Aerith. Cinque has those curls and so does Aerith but hers look like the twining of DNA strands whereas Cinque's look like bouncy springs. Their eye colors are different but they hold the same innocence. Her best hope was for Cinque to be very different, personality wise because if there was indeed an Aerith-numero-dos, Tifa doesn't believe she has the heart to put up with the guilt and pain, let alone ghostly reminders.

Suddenly her thoughts were sharply intercepted by a soft but well-pitched voice down below.

Curiosity was a woman's vice.

Tifa craned her head to look below and saw a boy with dark red hair pacing to and fro, muttering to himself.

 **"Heh. Cater and Eight-er. Heh. Wow! I mean even our names are kind of similar,"** he giddily reminisced, **"Yeah, I would think we are more than a perfect match…"** he concluded as he sat down at the bench of the fountain.

 _'Valentine's day came six months early! What's the world coming too and why can't I sniff the love in the air?'_ Tifa mentally groused. The first victim was Sice. And now this guy.

Then out of nowhere a girl with red hair came dashing through the lounge and into the very granite veranda Tifa had been leaning against, crying, **"Ooooooh! What do I do?!"**

Tifa blinked.

 **"I have a make-up exam!"**

The redhead took a brief look at the brunette next to her and said, **"Excuse me!"** and mounted on the ledge of the veranda. Tifa gasped and yelled, **"No! Don't do that!"**

 **"Shortcuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut!"**

Tifa reached out her hand to grab her but missed. The boy the veranda stepped back as he excited to see that his love interest was here exclaimed, **"Don't worry! I'll catch y— oof!"**

 **"Aaaaaaah—! Omph!"**

The girl landed on the floor and the boy was hit at the wrong spot of his head and in his attempt to break her fall. As a result, he too collapsed painfully on the floor. Their bodies laid comically at opposite sides of each other with the girl facing down and the boy on his back, trying to laugh off his predicament.

Tifa's jaw dropped to the floor for a second before she took action and ran down the matching granite staircase (all the while asking herself, why the girl had to risk the jump when she could have just ran down the stairs) and hurried at their sides. She helped the girl first and dusted her coat and skirt as she tried to balance the wobbly redhead on her feet.

 **"Oh Holy! That was too close! You could have really hurt yourself!"** Tifa exclaimed. " **And how come you have a make-up exam on the first day?"** she asked curiously.

 **"Wha— make-up exam?! OH GOD I'M LATE!"** she shrieked surprising Tifa as she pushed her way through and unfortunately stepped on the boy's chest in his attempt to rise and ran away without much of a greeting.

 **"Oooowwwww…"** the boy groaned in pain as Tifa watched the redhead's retreating form. Sighing she extended her hand and the boy looked up and gratefully took it. She pulled him up to his feet with ease thanks to her training and let him hold himself up with his hands on his knees.

 **"Thanks... Whoa, that'squiet a grip you got there!"**

 **"Those gloves…"** Tifa noticed, **"You're a martial artist."**

The boy grinned at her recognition and stood up tall with pride as he punched his palm with his fist. **"Indeed I am! I'm glad you recognize. Are you a martial artist too?"**

 **"I am,"** she affirmed proudly.

 **"Cool! A female martial artist! They are so rare these days, you know. Maybe we can spar sometime. Take it as a thank you for helping me up."**

Tifa chuckled, **"You don't have to thank me for that. How about I keep your cute little crush a secret as a thank you. But… a sparring match does sound nice."**

The boy paled then blushed beet red. **"Oh… you heard?"**

 **"You weren't exactly being subtle,"** Tifa bluntly stated. **"Anyway, as much as I'd love to stick around and chat, I have to go."**

 **"Wait, hold on! What's your name?"**

 **"Tifa Lockhart. Please take care of me,"** she bowed politely. It was the bow of martial artists.

The boy did the same, **"Pleased to meet you, Tifa. I'm Eight Quies. I look forward to our fated sparring match."**

Tifa grinned, thinking of how much fun this year will be. The last time she had ever sparred with anyone was Zack and he was very good and kept Tifa on her toes. She wondered if Zack will be the one to represent Midgar High in the Dissidia Tournaments. She was sure that the whole school would have high hopes for him as his athletic prowess was very impressive. Shaking her head she waved at Eight, **"Well, see you later."**

And off she went to work.

* * *

Jack Beatitudine was looking forward to practice with his two fellow band mates, King Judicium and Trey Cognitio.

 **"Okay. Time for rehearsal."**

Trey looked at him weirdly, quiet honestly, he was exhausted and at the same time there was something that he wanted to share more than ever now and if he had to wait any longer, he was sure that he would self-implode. Besides, they had a long day and took excruciating pains to discuss which subjects they want to take as they will decide their future and quite possibly their future professional lives. He supposed that he could only blame himself; he talked an earful on the matter.

 **"We don't have much time to practice after all."**

Jack looked down in disappointment and Trey felt a little guilty. But he had to meet the girl in the café again.

 **"I hate practice,"** King drawled.

 **"Eh?!"** his two fellow musicians exclaimed.

 **"Practice is a pain. Let's skip it today."**

Jack was shocked at this notion. He felt that if Mr. Tribal saw the frivolous attitude of this band, he would never take them seriously. And so he voiced his opinion, **"Wha— that's not a good idea!"**

Trey looked at his friend and struggled to bite down a laugh that threatened to bubble out of chest and began to follow King.

 **"We really need to practice sometime!"** Jack urged.

 **"It's okay!"** King waved at his friend dismissively, then faced him to show his point of the argument, **"I always play from my heart, you see?"** he jabbed his chest with his thumb to emphasize his point, **"My performance will be perfect."**

 **"Like hell it will!"** Jack scowled as he waved his drumsticks at his two best friends. Normally, Jack was the class-clown and had a joker type of personality… except when it comes to band practice.

 **"Then where we going?"** Trey asked with a big grin.

 **"Hmm… let's see. Options, options..."** King muttered pensively.

 **"Don't encourage him!"** This was getting exasperating for Jack.

 **"He's right. Don't worry!"** Trey further intoned with more flair than King, **"For _I_ also play from my heart"** He couldn't keep up the charade for long and chortled at his own mockery of King but decided to take the quick opportunity to decide where they should go since King hadn't decided yet.

 **"So hey—wait up,"** he caught up to him, **"You know that new place the café that just opened?"**

King nodded his head, assuming that it was Tarot Coffee & Tea House, sometimes known as Tarot Café. He knows too well about Trey's irredeemable sweet tooth and obsession with cafés and anything with nicotine. That meant cigarettes and King tried to discourage Trey several times to quit the cancer sticks but failed.

 **"Have you seen the hottie brunette working there?"**

King raised his brow and shook his head, while thinking, _'Well, this is new.'_ The last time he had been to Tarot Café was a month ago and the café had opened two months ago. But the point was, Trey was usually very picky around women or that he simply doesn't know how to approach them. He preferred the second reason since it made more sense. He admires and respects his friend's intellect but he was, frankly, a chatterbox.

 **"Oh-ho-ho-ho man! She is super fine. She's got these curves and long legs for days."**

Jack, not willing to be abandoned shouted, **"You guys! Come back here! I'm serious!"**

* * *

On the cobblestone path, three girls were gossiping over the latest news they have heard from Queen: she saw Ace and Mutsuki walking together on Couple's Road with her own eyes.

 **"I knew it!"** declared Cinque.

 **"I'm still really surprised,"** said Deuce Bonitas, **"You're really perceptive, Cinque!"**

 **"Hehe! You think so? Anyway, guys I want to get back to my dorm. My roommate could be there. I hope she got my note."**

 **"Really, you don't want to come and play some more tennis with us?"** Deuce asked as she tapped her tennis racket against her shoulder.

 **"No I'm good. I want to make a good impression on my roommate. See you guys later!"** she chimed as she ran off to East Wing Dormitory.

Queen sighed as she watched her friend leave and tilted her head to Deuce's direction, **"You know, I adore Cinque and all and I feel bad for saying this but... I kind of feel sorry for whoever is going to be her new roommate. I heard from the rumors that her roommate came from Midgar and is a scholarship student."**

This was even bigger news than Ace's love life (well, almost) as she gasped. **"Seriously?! She must be really something."**

 **"Yeah, I wonder who she is and what she's like. I just hope she can cope with Cinque's unique quirks in the dorm better than we ever could."**

Deuce winced at this remember the times she had to deal with Cinque's antics. **"Yeah."**

* * *

Tifa was walking on the same cobblestone as the three girls and she saw a flash of ginger hair skip past her. She paused to turn and look behind her to see the back of a girl with long braided hair. She gulped being reminded of Aerith again as she looked at her sadly. She knows that she should at least say hello to her but instead she felt the buzz of her phone in her bag and took this as a cue to take her leave. She dashed past the girls and walked in the same direction as the three school band members.

 **"Okay guys, you know I'd like a look at the mystery girl, too."** Jack declared.

 **"Weren't you going to go to rehearsal?"** Trey snickered.

 **"Come on. Don't leave me out! Please?"** he begged with a defeated laugh.

Trey's eyes suddenly caught the light of brunette hair that shone a shade of dark copper and stared at the direction to find a girl heading towards the same tram station they were heading.

 **"I-it's her!"** he realized.

 **"What?"** King said skeptically and looked at the direction. Even though he could only see her back, he could still make out the shape of her figure. He had to admit, she looked good from that angle. But it wasn't enough.

 **"We have to follow her,"** Trey asserted.

King and Jack gave him dubious looks and Jack asked, **"Isn't that stalking?"**

 **"If that hottie brunette waitress is a student in our school, then that's great! Maybe I can impress her. And if I'm lucky, take her out to study dates. Then maybe coffee dates. And park dates."**

 **"And then marriage, right?"** King drawled.

Jack snickered this time and said, **"King's right. You're kinda getting ahead of yourself, man— hey, where you goin'?"**

Trey already ran off to the tram station to follow the girl but kept at least a yard's distance so that he doesn't startle her. Even then, he couldn't make out her full features but he got a different angle that was decent enough to be sure that he wouldn't mistake that beautiful fountain of silk for dark hair on the maiden's head.

 _'It has to be her,'_ he knew deep down, but he still had to make sure.

His two friends followed his lead but he could hardly acknowledge his existence as all of his attention are on the mysterious girl he tried to woo in the café. He doesn't know why he is captivated by her. But he made it his life's mission to at least know her name and if he was lucky, her phone number. He was going to take the opportunity to look at her bag since everyone has customized messenger bags like hers but he could only make out the letters 'K-H-A-R-T' much to his disappointed. Before he could get a closer inspection the tram has arrived and the girl stepped in.

Trey followed suit but was about a train car's distance away from her. He balanced himself on the pole and trained his clear blue eyes on her. Every time her head threatened to incline towards his direction he would turn away, even though he didn't want to. He wanted her to see him; he wanted her to know that he exists.

When they finally arrived at their stop, Tifa got off and headed towards the café. Trey followed and saw that she had disappeared through the back entrance. He grinned sheepishly like a child who just got candy. His suspicions were confirmed, _'It_ _ **is**_ _her!'_

King sighed at his antics, not knowing if he should feel alarmed or confused at his friend's strange behavior over a girl. **"So, what do we do now, genius?"**

 **"We go in and buy some coffee. And I'm definitely having pastry,"** Trey supplied the answer as if it was the most natural thing to do.

King grimaced in distaste, not being one for sweets and Jack looked at King with the corner of his eye, his body language telling him that he feels utterly confused and awkward and he should be making fun of Trey, but can't bring himself to.

* * *

Tifa quickly changed into a light blue dress but wore her school uniform shoes as she didn't have an extra pair and came out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen to find Shears. It seems that he had quickly found another person to replace Felix but he had just left as he finished his shift. Now it was just her and Shears which will be difficult. So he called in Elfé to help out later in the evening. It was fortunate for Shears that Happy Hours are only open from Thursdays to Saturdays. She went to Shears' office and quickly signed the contract that he had promised her. The only generous comment he relayed to her regarding the contract was that she was a quick study. When they came out of the office Shears sneered and said, **"Hey, Tifa. You sure you don't mind serving these three fuckin' blond stooges?"**

Tifa rolled her eyes at his vulgarity and said, **"It's not nice to refer to your customers like that. Especially since your payday depends on their satisfaction."**

 **"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Listen, if they give you any trouble, do not be afraid to shout for me."**

 _'I'm pretty sure I can handle myself Shears, but thank you for your concern. It's really unnecessary and I don't know what your deal is,'_ Tifa mentally snapped at him. But she doesn't have the heart to prevent someone from worrying about her once in a while and it felt… nice. So instead she opted for her classic answer, **"Sure."**

She went to the three customers that Shears dubbed as three blond stooges, wondering if he knows them as regular customers or on a more personal level. She recognized that they wore the VBA school uniform and sardonically wondered if most of the Rubrum population was mainly composed of blond males and brunette females.

Trey caught her eyes for a moment and whispered to his two friends as he approached to her, **"Look! She's coming this way."**

Jack's eyes bulged a bit as his eyes trailed down the body and stupidly cried out one word: **"Legs!"**

King placed his hand behind Jack's head and brought it down against the table. The sound 'thud' was very satisfactory. But he understood why Trey was so infatuated with their waitress on this fine Monday afternoon; she was 'smokin' hot' as he would put it (but never out loud) and definitely Trey's type, not to mention _his_ type. But out of respect for his friend, he wouldn't flirt with her… unless he wanted to get on Trey's laid eyes on her before he did and as part of the norm between male friends, better known as, The Bro-Code, he was going to let Trey try his luck with her. If she agrees to go out on a date, he'd feel happy for his friend. If she doesn't, then he has three wonderful options: help his friend, flirt with her to get on his nerves or take him out for a boy's night out full of video games, soda and pizza.

 **"Hello, may I have your order please?"** asked the beautiful brunette.

She looked at one blond in particular and tilted her head, **"Trey, is it?"**

Trey was so elated that his face brightened up like the fireworks of New Year's Eve. **"You… you remembered my name,"** he flustered, and internally beating himself up for not being cool in front of her.

 **"You keep leaving behind your wallet… and anything with your name on it. You even left behind your debit card, that's dangerous!"** she reminded him with a chuckle.

Trey tried to put on his game face on and thought of some of the tackiest pick-up lines that would go with the flow of this conversation, **"You know, I may have lost my phone number too. Can I have yours?"**

King groaned and Jack covered his mouth, suppressing a giggle. Tifa bit her lower lip and blinked slowly to absorb that pick-up line. It was tacky, but it was well played too. **"How about you order and I might consider,"** she teased.

 **"Hey, are you student in VBA by any chance?"** Jack piped up, **"Oh and I'm Jack by the way,"** he winked.

Trey wanted to punch the drummer on the face for his lack of tact but thought better of it when she answered, **"Yes I am. Which class are you guys in?"**

King found the perfect opportunity to help and tease Trey in his quest to get the girl. **"We're in Class-Zero. My friend here,"** he gave him a hard pat on the back, **"He's a walking-talking encyclopedia. He can even surprise you with interesting trivia once in a blue moon. We call him Brainiac for a reason."**

Trey was embarrassed at this and crossed his fingers hoping the beautiful brunette will not think of him as a nerd, or geek, or dork, or any of those undesirables. But those words did not cross Tifa's mind at all and she was genuinely impressed by the way his friend boasted about him. **"Really? See I'm in Class-Zero, too. I could use some help getting my facts straight,"** she was genuinely interested in studying with Trey if he is as smart as they claim him to be.

King smirked, knowing that his work wasn't done yet. He sat back in a lazy slouch and said, **"He's a talented guitarist and violinist too. We're in a band, you see? Music's our passion."**

 **"Tch, oh yeah we're so passionate that we could afford to skip practice,"** Jack muttered in a snarky fashion. Then he yelped in pain when Trey kicked his ankle with the back of his heel.

 **"I play from the heart,"** King continued with a devilish grin, **"It's how I like to kick it."** Then he boldly took Tifa's hand reveled at the feeling of heated glares that could burn a hole in his head. **"If you want to keep up to times with some good ol' rock and folk, just come find me. I'm King by the way, and you?"** He pushed his luck as he brushed his thumb over the brunette's hand.

Tifa observed the guy that held her hand and blushed. He looked scary at first with his sharp deep red gaze and thick chiseled facial features, but his relaxed attitude and deep baritone voice put her at ease around him and took the liberty to think, _'Nice Mohawk, bruh'._ She giggled at her thought and said, **"Tifa Lockhart, at your service."**

 **"Tifa,"** King tested the name and let it roll smoothly on his tongue and pressed a feathery peck on the back of her hand, **"Pretty name for a pretty gal. It's a pleasure to meet'cha."**

Tifa didn't know how to react to that but her cheeks still had the same shade of creamy pink. She has never experienced something like this back in Midgar High. Zack had flirted with her when they first met and her reaction was akin to that of a floorboard; still and stiff.

 _'Should I say thank you? Or just say the typical nice-to-meet-cha-too greeting? What should I do?! Oh I'll just say what I always say!'_

 **"Sure,"** and took back her hand when she heard someone clearing his throat.

 **"So, you're really in Class-Zero? Like me?"** Trey asked enthusiastically.

 **"Like us,"** Jack hissed and received a kick under the table again.

 **"Uh-huh."** Tifa affirmed. **"But you know… I still haven't gotten your orders,"** she laughed awkwardly.

 **"Oh, right sorry. You see my friend here,"** Trey pointed at Jack, **"It's his fault, he can't keep himself away from cute girls."**

 **"What?!"** Jack squawked in a high pitched voice, clearly affronted and Trey just grinned. Tifa found herself smiling with her teeth at their antics and got her tablet ready. She decided that she actually likes the blond trio and took their orders.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cinque had been waiting in her room getting restless to see her roommate. She spent her time watching funny cat videos on Zee-Tube, then she would go on FacePage organize her digital photo albums. She had been waiting for more than two hours and at the knock of the door she became so excited that she knocked the chair over when she got up and opened the door… only to feel deflated at the sight of another one of her friend, Cater Virtus who had just come back from her final exam.

 **"Oh… it's you."**

 **"Gee sorry to disappoint,"** Cater frowned but brushed it off, **"Hey, me and the girls are planning to the park or staying at Queen's room to talk about the latest rumor. Something about a certain Nine Pugna picking up the courage to confess to Ms. Emina. We are placing our bets. Wanna join?"**

 **"That doesn't sound like it'll end well,"** she said woozily, and looked up at the ceiling. It was her way of rolling her eyes without showing sassy attitude. **"But I wish him luck anyway."**

 **"So… why don't you want to come?"**

 **"I'm waiting for my roommate. I've been waiting for hours…"**

Cater immediately understood and didn't know who to feel sorry for; the roommate or Cinque. Cinque wanted a forever roommate for ages but because of her… strange habits in bed. Unfortunately, every single one of the girls demanded a different roommate to the staff and they were left no choice but to let Cinque have the room to herself. Deuce is roommates with Queen, Sice with Cater, Seven with Rem and that leaves Cinque with the rumored scholarship student.

 **"Well… come to Queen's room if you change your mind,"** Cater offered comfortingly and left. Cinque sighed, closing the door after her and went back to her computer. She even had a frightening moment where she petulantly wanted to open the window and cry out to the skies, _'Oh roooooomieeeee-doooooooooo! Where aaaareeee youuuuuu?!'_ But instead she resorted to watching more cat videos.

They were ridiculously addicting.

* * *

 **"So, you will come every Thursdays and Friday's on a regular basis. What's wrong with Saturdays?"** Shears asked.

 **"If I need to I'll come in the weekends, I might be able to come on Sundays too it's just that in the weekends I want to... have a social life with new friends. Or I want to do something fun for myself. There is also the fact that I go to JIGS every Saturday. I love that place and I get to meet all kinds of people."**

Shears understood because he used to go to JIGS regularly too before he got this job. Then he'd only go whenever his girlfriend had free time. **"Okay. Well, I'm glad you decided to stick around for a while. But if it gets too much for you, just know that I don't mind. The café is small and is for a select few groups of people. I can understand if you have exams and all."**

 **"Thanks Shears. I'll see you on Thursday."**

 **"By the way… those three blond stooges. They didn't bother you too much, did they?"**

Tifa rolled her eyes in good humor and replied, **"No, they are my classmates, they are also in Class-Zero. Really Shears, if I didn't want someone to touch me, I'd scream. Or bend their fingers. Besides, I like them already. They seem nice."**

Shears shook his head, wanting to remark that all guys are nice to pretty young girls like her but he trusted her and let it go. **"Take care of yourself, Tifa."**

 **"Sure. See you,"** she waved and went to the store room to collect her belongings. She didn't bother changing back into her school uniform because the school permits students to wear casual clothes after school hours; it was written in first page of the rules and regulation manual when she got the luxury to take a fifteen minute break from work.

When she got out she saw Trey leaning against the wall and tilted her head. **"Trey? What are you still doing here? Where are your friends?"** she inquired.

Trey backed away from the wall and shifted around awkwardly. _'Come on, just ask her! Cool as a cucumber. Trey, stop being a dork and be cool,'_ he beat himself mentally.

Clearing his throat he asked, **"I… I was wondering if I could walk you back to the dormitory. We're going in the same direction and all, I thought you know…"** Trey groaned at himself for looking uncool in front of a girl. He doesn't understand how King does it. The guy has an intimidating face and his height make him seem imposing but in a few simple words he can put everyone at ease and people see that he's not that scary. Whereas Trey, being calm and collected most of the time, is a bumbling fool when it comes to sharing something he's interested in. And in this case, he is a bumbling mess when he all he wants to do is accompany a pretty girl back to their dorm and make sure that she was safe.

Tifa… found this sweet. It reminded her of all the times Cloud used to accompany her home. Then when they became friends with Zack and Aerith, Zack started to accompany her home. He'd even wait if she decided to stay late in the library, but not without whining.

 _'You are so sweet, Trey. Such a gentleman. Yes, I would love it if you accompanied me back to my dorm. So, what random fact have you learned today? What's your favorite song to play?'_ Tifa would have loved to ask these questions instead of offering a dumb, **"Sure."**

 **"Great!"** Trey was relieved, happy and nervous at the same time, **"That's great! Hey do you take the tram every single day? Speaking of trams, I really love them. Did you know that they started building trams in year 2U39 in Rubrum? They were supposed to pose as trade routes…"**

He continued on and on and Tifa never stopped him. She listened to him talk attentively and found out some things about him. From time to time she would ask menial questions like the strange glove he wore. He answered that those gloves were for archery and discovered that his specialty is archery and he is the president of the archery club. His club were mostly guys because well… due to his nature, most of the girls were chased away. They learned that much to their delight their favorite song was 'Heroes' and he liked to play it at least once a week much to the irritation of his band mates. Now they are forcing him to play it only once a month and he has no choice but to comply. They talked amiably as they walked side by side. Of course, to any onlooker it looked as though Trey was doing the talking and Tifa was doing the listening.

 _'This school has so many colorful personalities, Aerith. By the end of this week, I'll tell you all about them,'_ she thought absentmindedly as Trey's voice was temporarily.

 **"Hey, are you listening?"** Trey asked as they finally reached the granite staircase to the dormitory.

She pulled her mind out of reminiscence and apologized, **"I'm sorry, I just suddenly thought of a special friend that I left behind in Midgar."**

 **"Special friend?"** Trey gulped, not sure if he liked the sound of that.

 **"Yes, she is very special to me. I miss her sometimes."** She sighed, wondering why she bothered to share this.

Trey was visibly relieved when Tifa said, 'she' and 'her', so he didn't prod any further. **"Well, maybe you could write her an e-mail,"** he suggested.

Tifa's heart thumped against her heart that she felt her blood veins in her ears pump. _'Hah, close enough. I prefer hand written letters though,'_ she thought with a dry smile.

 **"Yeah, that's probably a good idea,"** she replied with a shrug. **"But anyway! Thank you for accompanying me back here. I really appreciate it, Trey."** And she truly did.

 **"I still didn't get your number,"** he said jokingly.

 **"Still didn't find a legit excuse,"** she shot back with a cheeky smile.

 **"So… we have to randomly partner together for some duo-project thing and that'll be the perfect excuse,"** he plotted out loud as he played along with her.

 **"I see you got it all figured out."**

 **"My friends don't call me Brainy or Brainiac for nothing,"** he pointed out.

 **"I'm sure they don't,"** she said dryly as they finally walked up the stairs and into the lobby.

 **"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Tifa."**

 **"We'll see everyone tomorrow,"** Tifa replied, **"G'night. And thanks again,"** she waved as she climbed to her floor leaving him at the bottom of the staircase on his floor as he watched her form disappear upstairs, his hand still in mid-air waving.

He sighed and patted his own heart to slow down the rapid successive heartbeats and went to his room. King didn't look up from his notepad and continued to rhythmically tap it with his pen as he scribbled the lyrics for a song that he had been trying to compose all summer. **"So how'd it go?"** he asked his friend.

Trey collapsed on his bed, his arms spread like an eagle as he looked at the ceiling. He took a moment to recollect how it really went and felt a glimmer of hope for this new romantic interest that he had just discovered. **"She walked with me,"** he replied simply.

King looked up from his notepad, knowing that this must be something if Trey wasn't reciting a long essay on how his day went.

 **"You know how all the other girls would tell me to shut up every time I share something I have learned? Tifa… she doesn't do that. She listens. She actually listens. You guys, I mean, you're my friends but sometimes I catch you rolling your eyes or pretending to pay attention to anything I say. I don't know how you do it King. You don't need to say much but you let can make anyone let their guard down without trying. I'm…"**

 **"Hey come on, man. You're not that bad. And I do listen to you… sometimes,"** he felt a little guilty but he had to be honest with him for the sake of their friendship. _'So this new girl listens to him and doesn't mind his blab. She must be really something. And she's hot. I'll give credit to Trey for having good taste.'_

 **"I want to know her more,"** Trey finally said. King blinked at this, looking mildly surprised. **"I mean, I want to be her friend. And if I'm lucky we'll see where it takes from there. But I really want to know her. And I want to see her smile a real smile; not one of those professional smiles or polite smiles. A real one… I got a good look in her eyes but only for a second. I saw something there. I want to see it again."**

King's mouth dropped slightly open and whether Trey knew it or not, he had fallen in love with Tifa Lockhart and he had fallen hard. But he didn't say anything and all he wanted to do was help his bro out; help him get his girl.

 **"I don't know what to say, bro. But… I hope you get to see that something again."**

* * *

The moment Tifa entered her room she was suddenly pounced by a blur of ginger and lavender.

 **"Ohmygod! You'refinallyhere!I'msohappytoseeyou!"** the girl with lavender pajamas said very quickly without taking a single breath.

Tifa nearly stumbled at the sudden assault of affection and thought, _'Oh! This girl is friendly. Very friendly!'_ She looked down at her and saw her look up at her face, her face glowed with joy as she laid eyes on her new roommate for the first time. She felt her studying her features and blinked to avoid deep eye contact. **"Um… Cinque, was it?"** she asked, knowing very well the answer.

Cinque nodded vigorously, grinning from ear to ear. She let go of her and pulled her into the room then closed the door behind them. She jumped up and down excitedly in the room as Tifa watched, slightly bemused by her behavior. _'She kind of reminds me of Yuffie even if her looks remind me of Aerith,'_ she thought fondly.

 **"You remember my name! I know you. At least I think I do,"** she stopped jumping and suddenly she went from hyperactive to deeply pensive. **"Hmm… let's see. Your name is Tifa Lockhart…. Uh… that's it! Oh wait, I heard a rumor that there was a scholarship student who transferred from Midgar. You're like… like a super rare bird!"**

Tifa gulped down a bit and really wished that they would tone down the pizzazz about scholarship students. She knew how difficult it was to be one, regarding any school and her case was very unique for the matter. But she had to clear that out with Cinque before tonight. **"Yes, I did come here on scholarship. It wasn't really easy. Actually it was very difficult getting here, but I think it's worth it. I also know that this is just the beginning."** Truth was, Tifa was really worried if she can adjust with her new studies quickly and keep up with her new classmates.

 **"Don't worry! I, Cinque Innocenti, shall help you become top student. Or second top student. Or third top student… I'm not really top student but I try my best,"** she deflated as she spoke honestly. **"I managed to get here because I'm super good at throwing stuff and using a mace. I'm also really good at speaking different languages and I love art. Alsomyparentsarerich,"** she added the last part too quickly. **"So anyway. Where have you been all this time?"** she asked curiously.

 **"Ah… well, I was working at a café and that's my part-time job. I'm a waitress."**

 **"Wait… you already have a part-time job? Wow… talk about building a career already. I mean, you have to start somewhere. Queen works for the printing press. She's a photocopier and she _hates_ it. But that's how she keeps up to date with the local news. Anyway, how old are you?"**

Tifa bit her lower lip and wondered if she should answer with 'old enough' or 'I'm fifteen'. She chose neither and said, **"I'll be turning sixteen on May 3rd."**

Cinque sat back on the bed and stretched. **"Hmm, that's nice…"** she yawned a little. Tifa took the time to put her bag somewhere and went to the wardrobe to change into her pajamas which consisted of a white top and satin red shorts. She sighed in relief, glad that she can get away with telling someone that she's only fifteen and there is no drama. Such luxury was short lived as Cinque's eyes bulged out in realization of what she just said and she cried out, **"What?! You're younger than me?! You're fifteen!"** she pointed an accusatory finger at her.

 _'Drat,'_ Tifa sighed bitterly. She walked to her bed and looked at the floor, as if to look guilty for being a year younger than her roommate.

 **"I mean… wow,"** Cinque's voice lowered to a whisper.

Tifa looked up, knowing that she still has more to say as she scrutinized her with her friendly teal eyes. **"You must be a** ** _good_** **student."**

Tifa shrugged, not bothering to comment on that.

 **"And you're boobs are bigger than Seven's."**

Tifa spluttered and choked on her own saliva at this. Covering her mouth with her knuckle she coughed at the statement. She has met Seven earlier in the afternoon and thought she was pretty and curvy; her figure was athletic but slender with enough feminine edge.

 **"Ah-ha-ha-ha! Why are you so embarrassed? Those two bouncy globes are gifts of nature. I wish I had them. Boing-boing~** " she chimed.

 _'Well at least she's not crass about it like Yuffie. That little thief never calls me by my real name. As far as she's concerned, I'm Boobs McTitties,'_ she thought and snorted.

 **"Cinque, stop. Really, I'm nothing that special to look at. But you are. That pretty ginger hair and a long braid…"**

 **"Aww, thank you. You're so sweet! I've been called cutesy-Cinqee before but never special or pretty and today you did both. Yup, yup, I think we are going to get along _just_ fine, Tifa. Can I call you Teefy?"**

 **"Oi, Tif is okay,"** she chuckled at her childish antics.

 **"Nnnnn… No! Teefy is cuter! See I have special nicknames for almost everyone. Ace is Acey. Rem is Remski. And Machina's just Machy."**

Tifa couldn't help but laugh. So she shares the airy nature of Aerith and the childishness of Yuffie. But Aerith was very lady like, even when she's being affectionate and touchy feely. Cinque just glomped her earlier. Yuffie was crass, brash, cocky and a little thief. Cinque doesn't seem to have one arrogant bone in her body and demonstrated that she was humble. She knows that it is unfair to compare her with Aerith but she does it for the sake of sanity. She left Aerith in Midgar and promised herself to come and visit her every month. But her arrangement with Cinque was different; she was to be with her every day. Perhaps time will make this less painful.

 **"So shall we call it a night? I mean it's early but I'm—"** Cinque yawned, **"tired. I wish I could stay up and talk more but hey, I can monopolize whenever I want, Teefy. So be prepared!"** she warned playfully and scrambled deep into her sheets. The switch to the lights were next to the door and Tifa got up from her bed and switched off the light before heading to bed herself. Even though today was just half-day, it had been an eventful one. She had met so many people and they were all different. Secretly, Tifa wished to be their friend. She wants to get to know them. She wants to see their smiles and not just the polite ones. But she only felt dread. She felt that if people know what she was really life, they would shun her. If they knew that she had left Aerith behind, she felt that they would hate her and cast her in a very dark light.

 _'But aren't good grades enough?'_ she asked herself as she stared at the ceiling above her. She knew the answer. Even if she dedicates every single A+ she gets for Aerith as tribute, it might not be enough.

 **"Goodnight, Tifa…"** Cinque whispered.

The sweet sound of her roommate's voice somehow eased her worries for now and made it easier to close her eyes and go to sleep. **"Goodnight… Cinque."**

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay this is by far the longest chapter I have written and I think the next chapters will be considerably shorter. At least I hope. I have been thinking very hard on how to play out this chapter and it really wasn't easy. I paced around my room, replaying certain events, switching them around, and replayed them again, trying to find ways to weave in Tifa effectively into the alternate ending of FF Type-0. Let me tell you that it wasn't easy but I feel more or less satisfied with how it turned out. I am personally not sure if squeezing in yet another Turk from FF7: Before Crisis would make things affective but I am hoping it might because I feel that the way Tifa met all the characters so far would shape out her relationship with them in the future. Anyway some things to mention and get out of the way:

 **Alvis Rod** \- A player Turk from the game FF7: Before Crisis. In the original sketch by Studio Madhouse, they gave him the name 'Alvis' and like Felix Nunchaku in the previous chapter, I gave his surname after his code name/weapon. In this story he was born and raised in Midgar but moved to Rubrum for some reason. I myself don't know yet so we all have to wait later in the future chapters. He's also eighteen years old here.

ZeeTube is the YouTube in this universe and FacePage is the Facebook of this universe. Yes, I decided to give this world it's very own social networking system because the terms of conditions in is rather strict and I'm paranoid.

I have given every class-zero member a last name that the original game did not give us and it is based on what each of them represent. They are of course, Latin because I'm too tired to look into every single European language xD Remember that Agito is _not_ a Japanese word; it is Latin for 'put in motion'. below is a list of their full names in this fanfiction, their age, birthday and what they represent (taken from Wikia). So here it goes:

Ace Acceptum - 16 - July 10 - Acceptance

Deuce Bonitas - 17 - March 1 - Kindness

Trey Cognitio - 16 - February 8 - Knowledge

Cater Virtus - 16 - June 9 - Valor

Cinque Innocenti - 16 - January 12 - Innocence

Sice Luclae - 16 - November 13 - Tenacity

Seven Sentiendi - 17 - September 23 - Discernment

Eight Quies - 16 - August 30 - Tranquility

Nine Pugna - 17 - February 13 - Action

Jack Beatitudine - 16 - August 17 - Ignorance (in here I decided to use the latin word for Bliss)

Queen Prudentia - 17 - January 24 - Wisdom

King Judicium - 17 - December 7 - Judgement

Tifa Lockhart - 15 - May 3 - A locked heart? Guilt? A path to forgiveness? Seeker of redemption? Up to your interpretation, my dear readers.

Here are characters that already had surnames but I give you their data:

Machina Kunagiri - 17 - October 30 - Fear

Rem Tokimiya - 17 - April 20 - Love

Joker = Lean Hampelmann - Age unkown - Suffering

Tiz - Tohno Mahoroha - Age Unknown - Age

* * *

Machina and Rem's birth dates are unknown according to Wikia, so I gave Machina a birthday that was 'Hollow's Eve' since that's the perfect day to dread the ghosts that come to haunt you. And Rem... well I just chose a random date that sounds like 'Spring is in the air' to me. Joker and Tiz are immortal servants of 'Mother' aka Al-Racia (forgot how to spell her name) and they aren't that important in Type-0 and they won't be that important here either; they are just staff members in this universe. Joker is the school doctor (which for latesome reason makes me snort) and Tiz is the school secretary who is really late.

In Type-0, I acknowledge that there is a huge cast and there was very little character development. One could say the same for Before Crisis but I'll admit, even they show more character development than Type-0 cast. The character development only came at their deaths which in itself is very tragic. There is also the fact that they don't get the chance for much character development (well maybe except Rem and Machina), is because they lose the memories of those that have died to keep them focused on their military missions. I find that tragic as well. And the extremely painful death they had to endure was heartbreaking for me as well because I feel like in a way, Karma had decided to be a vengeful bitch to them for killing so many people (but then again, this was war but the price you are forced to pay is still heavy, and its true in real life) and well, they got their deserved death if you will. But at least they died together as friends, holding hands and best of all, they were remembered for their sacrifice. I found this to be the biggest tear jerker in Final Fantasy history. Not even Aerith's death made my heart ache as much as this (and I know I'll get a lot of hate for saying this lol).

Anyway, regarding the lack of character development in Type-0, I feel that in a way that is a gift, a big blessing disguise, especially to those who love the game and story; that way we can have more liberties with their character personalities and see how they develop in our reinterpretations. I'm really excited to see how everyone grows around Tifa and how Tifa grows with them.

Also. Shiva is a friggin' hippie. I hope I got the hippie-lingo alright and if I have offended anyone, I apologize. But I had fun writing the dialogue.

Now on to the *drum roll*

* * *

 **DISCLAIMERS: All characters mentioned in this fanfiction are property of Square Enix.**

 **'Heroes' is a song that belongs to David Bowie.**

Thank you for reading my dear readers and as always, I always appreciate the good ol' **R &R**!


	6. Classroom Culture

**CHAPTER 6: CLASSROOM CULTURE**

 **Monday, September 1, 2x03**

* * *

Midgar - 06:00AM

* * *

 **"Zack, what is so important that you had to meet me in front of school… at six-fuckin'-AM in the morning?!"** demanded a young male with blond hair styled in long exaggerated spikes. He was obviously not a morning person and he may have had the habit of waking up to the way he looks sans brushing his hair. There were rumors that he electrocutes himself every day to get that eccentric hairstyle (and Zack may have been the one to spread it).

 **"Come on, Cloud! It's the first day of school! You know what that means right?"** Zack sported a grin that told the world he was up to know good, and his eyes crinkled with mischief as he lifted a bag of 'goodies' for his plans for today. **"I have a special surprise for Seifer… think of it as a welcome back present to our fellow classmate."**

Cloud rolled his eyes and huffed in frustration, **"Zack. You know Aerith's in… How could you even think of this sort of stuff at a time like this?!"**

He kept remembering his girlfriend lying in the hospital bed, living on life support. They had promised to do so many things together; they were going to go to The Golden Saucer and have a date, then they planned to take their friends to Costa del Sol for some fun in the beach, then they would take summer jobs and save up enough traveling money to get out of Midgar and visit some place exotic. Aerith had always been interested in Gran Pulse and Oerba Village.

Cloud swallowed hard as he thought of Aerith and… Tifa. Every time he thought of her, his heart would leap to his throat and fall into his stomach. The relationship between them was awkward but still positive at best. He had a crush on her since he was a kid. He had loved her for a long time, even if she didn't notice him that much. But when she did chose to talk to someone her age, she would talk to him first and that made him happy.

 _'Tifa… damn you! Where were you when I needed you the most?!'_ he cursed her but immediately felt guilty. She was the one that ensured that he had a happy life in high school and he did for a time. He met wonderful people like Zack, and even found himself his one true love, the girl of his visions…

 **"Have you heard from Tifa?"**

His best friend's face fell into a frown and shook his head apologetically. **"No… I called her number and I think her number changed."**

 **"What?! Since when?! Where the fuck is she?!"** Cloud shouted. His eyes looked around, panic settling in his heart as he looked around the school campus. _'She can't have left could she? What if something happened to her? What if she's kidnapped? Or dead? No! She's probably in just another town. Or she's back in Nibelheim… No, wait. She'd be in some other town. No way, she'd go back to our village. It's still under construction.'_

 **"Cloud, relax! She probably needed a new phone number. Probably to get Seifer and Scarlet to stop bugging her."**

 **"What?"** Cloud questioned, wondering what he was talking about.

 **"Oh… so she didn't tell you,"** Zack frowned again. **"I uh… She didn't tell me either. I found out. I was once walking her home. She was really depressed that day. I cracked a joke and tried to lighten up the mood. It worked. But then she received a text message and she looked upset then hid her phone. I asked her. Obviously, she said her good old classic 'nothing' answer. I wasn't having it. So I snatched it from her and looked at it. Man, Cloud. You should have seen the sick text messages and threats she got from those assholes! It just makes me so mad!"**

 **"She was being cyberbullied?! Why didn't she say anything?!"**

Zack raised his arms up in the air and said, **"Beats me! She told me not to tell anyone! I said fine! But on condition that she'll tell at least one of us what's bothering her. And we both know how forthcoming she is right?"**

Now Zack was getting frustrated, but not angry. Cloud was getting worried and scared for his friend. But with new found determination he confirmed, **"Okay. That asshole better pay. What you got in mind?"**

His black haired friend offered a feral grin and opened his 'kit of pranks' and pulled out a large tin bottle of Shinra super-glue; extremely adhesive and dries up within ten seconds. Of course, breathing it in can drive someone to be woozy; like a cat on catnip. Shinra was never known to make environmentally friendly products but they do the job necessary.

 **"And what do you plan to use with that?"**

 **"Glad you asked Chocobo-butt! You know that ugly-as-fuck bike Seifer rides on every day?"**

 **"Yeah, what of it— oh… Oh!"** Cloud grinned wickedly knowing what he has in planned. When Tifa comes to school, surely she was going to have a field day at watching Seifer suffer humiliation on his first day. Then maybe, he and Zack can convince her to come and see Aerith and they can work through this together. Winning back Tifa as their friend was their number one priority and they would do anything. Even if she was selfish, secluded, in her own world, introverted, complicated, perplexing, observant, sarcastic, and all the other flaws, she was still their precious friend. But Cloud felt a guilty for not helping Tifa, for not seeing that she was not doing well. He knew that she was frustrated with her classmates he never thought that she would suffer anything more than mean-minded text messages. But with Zack's brilliant mind for pranks, he felt that he can put himself into action to bring Tifa back and maybe… just maybe, she can help bring Aerith back too with her added prayers somehow.

 **"Alright. What else you got?"**

 **"This pink dye for shampoo. We'll have to hijack the code for the showers. I never go out without a lock and pick. Good thing I learned it from Reno!"**

 **"Who's Reno?"** Cloud asked.

 **"Just some awesome dude with mad skills man. Met him in JIGS,"** Zack continued as Cloud shrugged, **"I got this balloon full of dirty feathers. First thing we are going to do is rig up the ceilings. Oh and we're gonna super-glue the crotch part of his pants. He'll go home with a nasty surprise… and I got this bag of itching powder."**

 **"Evil!"** Cloud remarked, getting more and more impressed.

 **"Maybe I should have gotten poison ivy instead… Oh and I have plastic eggs. You know those kid toys where they have those eggs and putty in it. Well… this putty smells bad. It smells like shit. I put sulfur in it. Hah. Get it? Seifer. As in: Sulfur. Sulfuric-Shit-Piss-Seifer!"**

Cloud rolled his eyes and thought the play on his name was lame… and yet somehow fitting. **"After this… we have to get Jessie to hack into the cameras and let it post all over the internet. Speaking of Seifer, I heard Squall is coming to town."**

 **"Dude… SERIOUSLY?! That's awesome! Hey I heard a rumor that Seifer hates Squall for some reason. Something about scarring his face with in his visions or something. Whatever. Here comes Yuffie! HEY YUFFIE! I got the tools I promised!"** Zack waved at his thieving comrade who came running to them and hugging them both.

 **"Good to see you guys! I was so worried about you. I kept praying to Leviathan that everything will be okay…"** Yuffie looked around and frowned at the absence of Aerith, **"Guess she's still not up yet… Hey! Have you heard from Tifa?! I tried to stalk for her everywhere?! She has no FacePage. All her possible e-mails keep bouncing back. I even tried typing tifasbewbs at koolio mail dot com… And it didn't work. I tried calling her, but she friggin changed her number!"** she nagged. **"Argh! I hope she comes today. She'll be soooo happy on her first day of school! I can't wait!"**

Cloud raised his brow and scratched the back of his head at Yuffie's insistent emphasis on Tifa's 'twin wonders' to be the very basis and biggest clues of her existence. But then again, that was very 'Yuffie'.

Zack didn't bother telling her that he faced the same issue and hoped with all his heart that Tifa will be able to witness this. And even if she didn't, he'll have it all taped and he'll show it to her when she does come. And then everyday will be a fun day for her and then maybe… he can ask her out for just one date. Grinning, he handed the tools of pick-locking and mischief to Yuffie and followed Cloud who started to climb up the school gates.

Looking behind him Cloud motioned, **"Come on, guys. Let's mosey!"**

Upon hearing his catch phrase, Zack and Yuffie groaned and slapped their palms to their foreheads… hard.

* * *

Tifa found herself waking up with a heavy weight around her abdomen and breast. Confused she stretched and shuffled her limbs underneath her blanket and found an arm around her breast and a leg wrapped around her stomach. She turned her head to see her roommate Cinque getting a little too comfortable in her sleep. She had designated Tifa Lockhart to be her very own pillow and knighted her as the grand protector Teddy-bear to fight against nightmares without so much of a word of negotiation. The brunette was very confused and yet, happy to see that she had slept like a log.

But she was in a predicament; a rather adorable predicament.

 **"C-Cinque…?"** she called out with uncertainty, _'Why are you hugging me in my sleep? What are you muttering about? Better yet, how did you just get in my bed?!'_

But Tifa did not have the heart to question her roommate. This was a precious moment and it reminded her of the times she had spent sleepover parties at Aerith's house. And she did not want those memories resurfacing on the first day of school. She craned her head to look at the alarm clock and saw that it was 7:20AM. Sighing, she nudged her limbs some more to try to break free from her roommate's vice-like grip.

 **"Cinque!"** she called out in a harsh whisper and shook her.

Cinque muttered incoherently in her sleep and only hugged tighter. Tifa huffed in frustration and wiggled around inside her grip, struggling to break free. But in her struggle, she ended up pushing Cinque off the bed and ended up falling on top of her as she was held mercilessly around her waist. Consequently, she fell on top of Cinque and her breasts squished painfully against the contours of her roommate's face.

 **"Can't breathe!"** came a muffled exclamation.

Dead weight arms released Tifa's narrow waist as she lifted herself off from Cinque's body.

 **"Sorry!"** she hurriedly apologized and paused to think, _'Why am I apologizing? What was Cinque doing on my bed in the first place?!'_ But she would rather bite her tongue than let out a string of questions flow through her mouth. She wanted to have a good relationship with her roommate and that didn't have to be any more difficult than necessary.

 **"Oopsy-daisy~ I guess I made a teddy bear out of you again, right Tifa?"** Cinque offered a sheepish grin and giggled, her eyes sparkling with mirth. It was hard not to want to be friends with her.

Any feelings of reservations for her new eccentric roommate have disappeared and she hoped that perhaps this won't happen all the time. If only Cinque would warn her about how many roommates she had chased away thanks to her behavior at sleeping hours.

 **"So did you sleep well?"** Cinque asked, her expression bearing a slight hint of anxiety.

 **"I did actually,"** Tifa was surprised herself. There were no nightmares, no visions or even dreams that made no sense. **"I suppose you did too, since you used me as your body pillow,"** she smirked.

Cinque bit her lower lip and giggled again before rolling on to the floor and pulled herself to stand up before pulling Tifa up to her feet as well. **"Well, we have only thirty minutes to brush our teeth, brush our hair, dress up and meet everybody in homeroom in case you didn't get to meet anyone on orientation day. Everyone's so thrilled to meet you. You know why, right?"**

Tifa groaned at this and said, **"Don't tell me…"** She went to look for her bag of toiletries, **"It's because they want to see who this new scholarship student is right? God I hope they haven't spread any stupid rumors about me…"**

Cinque raised a brow and asked, **"Why would they spread rumors when they don't even know you?"**

 _'You have no idea how nasty people be, Cinque'_ Tifa thought morosely as she thought back at her Midgar High days. They weren't the brightest either. **"There was this secretary… who is actually the school doctor that likes to call himself Joker… and he said out loud that I was a scholarship student and there were others that heard and they started whispering. That made me feel anxious. I just… I just don't want anyone to treat me differently. I want them to see me like… a normal girl."**

After she finished brushing and re-braiding her hair, Cinque understood why Tifa was anxious and nervous then let out a soft giggle. **"Wow, Tifa. You have nothing to be scared of. I think it's because they were intimidated by how pretty and smart you are going to be. Pretty girls tend to have a bad rep."**

Tifa inelegantly barked out a laughter as she pulled her hair in a high ponytail; her bangs still covering her left eye.

 **"Don't laugh! There are so many stories, movies and all that media that portrays the prettiest girl being the naughtiest or the sluttiest or whatever. Then there are all those dumb-blond jokes… which sometimes be true when you think about Nine. Hah! You won't find that here. Class-Zero is very friendly, even if they are a bit curious. We are like family. I bet they can't wait to get to know you and see you as one of us!"**

 **"But Cinque…"** Tifa was honestly touched by her words, **"I'm not that pretty. I'm really, _really_ plain"**

 **"Liar, liar. Pants on fire. Sitting on a telephone wire,"** Cinque sang childishly. _'You don't have to be aware of how pretty you are right now or ever, and you don't have to know that you are humble either. But you can at least realize that you are nice. Very nice,'_ she thought.

Tifa rolled her eyes, but despite herself, she was smiling. She was at such ease that she felt that she can at least string along a conversational joke from that rhyme, **"Great. Then I'll have to cut off that telephone wire then."**

 **"Oh, gee, now that's not fair! Hmm…"** Cinque tapped her chin as she picked up her own bag of toiletries, **"Guess I'll have to slip a charm or two through the wire and wrap it around your wrist."**

Tifa's brows shot up on her face as she was at wonder at how creative and pretty that comeback is. It was also insistent and thoughtful… and she was reminded of Aerith all over again. She would 'trap' you into such endearing situations that you couldn't help but blush.

 **"It'll be a friendship bracelet,"** Cinque smiled and wrapped her delicate fingers around Tifa's slim wrist, **"I promised you that I was going to monopolize you and keep you all to myself, roomie-doo."**

Tifa blinked, _'Roomie-doo? As in Scooby-Doo?'_

 **"Starting from right this second, you are my friend. My best friend,"** Cinque confirmed.

 _'Aerith… we never declared each other as best friends out loud like this… why do I feel as though I am betraying you for agreeing to this. Am I agreeing to this?'_ Tifa looked down at the hand holding her wrist. Cinque has such slim fingers but her hands were smaller and somewhat stockier. Aerith's hands were much more elegant and her fingers were so slim that they would have pretty ends. Tifa wouldn't say the same about her own hands except that they were functional enough.

 **"Best friend in VBA, right?"** Tifa asked hesitantly. She didn't want to be apparent that she wasn't ready to make extremely close friends as of yet but she does want to get to know everyone and get along with her peers.

 **"Uh-oh… someone doesn't have much faith in me,"** Cinque pouted. Tifa looked down, feeling miserable. Until Cinque's voice piped through her morose mindset, **"Guess I'll just have to work hard on that!"** she said cheerily.

Tifa wanted to smack herself for letting herself feel unnecessarily guilty. Aerith was full of surprises but Cinque was just unpredictable! She goes by the beat of her own drum. _'This is going to need some getting used to. Especially if she keeps using me as a body pillow'_. Despite herself, she found herself giggling and enjoying Cinque's enthusiasm. Taking a closer look at her she thought, _'Hm. If Zack and Aerith went back in time and had a baby, the baby would be Cinque… but they wouldn't name their kid Cinque would they? Even if it is a cute name… Oddly.'_

 **"Hey! Is there something on my face?"** Cinque said and comically loomed into Tifa's face, and looked deeply into her eyes.

Tifa immediately looked away and replied, **"No! But we have to get ready already!"**

 **"Oh right! Let's go, let's go!"**

* * *

Tifa and Cinque were the last to get out of the dormitory and hurriedly followed the others to their homerooms. They found themselves waiting outside in an organized queue. Cinque cited Queen and Deuce and tapped their shoulders. **"Morning Queenie and Deucey~ Look who I brought with me?"** She ushered her roommate forward and said, **"This is my roommate, Tifa Lockhart. It's going to be her first day in school."**

 **"Hello~"** Deuce chimed.

Queen leaned away from the wall and said, **"Nice to meet you~ I'm Queen. I'm also the student council's president. If you need anything just come find me."**

Tifa remembered her name and said, **"Queen... yes. I talked to Principal Chival and he mentioned you. I came from Midgar High and while it was a decent school, I think things are going to get harder here. He said I should come to you. And also one Ace Acceptum."**

She continued to observe Queen; long black hair, violet eyes and a pair of slim spectacles. She bore the aura of intelligence, wisdom and confidence as she did not blush at the fact that Chival mentioned her name.

 **"Well that depends on what subjects we share now. We have so many options to choose from. But we all share Math and Literature, those are obligatory. So I can definitely help you with that. Ace and Trey are good in math so you can ask one of them."**

Deuce remembered something and asked, **"Hey, are you by any chance from Midgar? I heard that there was a scholarship student and I was wondering if it was you."**

Tifa wanted back and melt herself against the wall and become one with it. She sighed and nodded mutely, **"I did get here on scholarship. I like what I've seen and experienced so far. I mean the campus is amazing."**

 **"What?! You're a scholarship student? For real?"**

Tifa looked behind her to see Sice, accompanied by Seven and a tall teenager with messy blond hair and bangs similar to Sice. _'Again, what is up with so many blonds in here?'_ she thought.

 **"Woah dude. Then you must be super smart. Watch out Queen, we have another smarty-pants in the house,"** the male teased. Queen rolled her eyes in response.

 **"I don't think we've met before. I'm Nine."**

 _'Is it just me or do a lot of my fellow classmates have numbers instead of names. Oh right... Cid told me something about a military agenda behind class-zero but had to be scrapped. Thank goodness.'_

 **"Nice to meet you. I'm Tifa."** She nodded politely.

 **"Hey Tifa, I hope we share a lot of classes together,"** Cinque chirped as she pulled out her timetable. **"So tell me what you have after Math?"**

Tifa did the same as she was interested to know who she shares her class with. **"I have Wutai,"** she internally winced as she reminded herself that she doesn't want to be complete disconnected with Yuffie in one way or another… even if she hadn't said goodbye to any of them.

 **"Aw, nuts. I take Runic Languages. Okay what's next for you?"**

 **"Psychology, Magitek, Music and finally Literature. Wow the school hours are really long here. We finish at 4:00… then we have after school clubs."**

Deuce's ears perked up at this and said, **"Why don't you try joining the orchestra? I play the flute. It'd be fun since we only share Music class as the one other subject. Do you play an instrument?"**

 **"I play the piano…"** she muttered, thinking about what Mr. Tribal said. She hoped that she would be able to satisfy all of her passion for classical music in Orchestra club and just focus on the more creative side of music and she was still unsure what that would comprise of.

 **"Perfect! We are in need of a pianist. The only one we have is Ace but he mostly sings."**

 **"The only thing I'm excited about are the Dissidia Prep,"** Nine commented, **"Its super cool and we have a new experienced teacher who was once a Dissidia Finalist next to Lightning Farron herself."**

 **"You just want to go there so that you can have fame and fortune, Nine,"** Sice snorted, shaking her head. **"I'm thinking of taking Gymnastics."**

 **"What, can't handle the competition?"** Nine teased.

 **"What was that? You remember what happened last year?"** Sice cracked her knuckles. Nine raised his hand in mock-surrender, **"Okay, chill man!"**

 **"Thought so,"** she smirked.

 _'I think I am going to love the school environment here,'_ Tifa visibly relaxed as she looked at each of her classmates and kept in mind that she could enter the Dissidia Preps and maybe even try for the Tournaments and she can be part of the school orchestra. Looking over Sice she waved at the three familiar faces.

 **"Hey, it's Tifa!"** Jack playfully elbowed Trey. Trey rubbed his arm where he had been elbowed and gave him a side-glare for a second before giving the girl a friendly wave and his most charming and toothy smile.

 **"Sup Tifa,"** King greeted.

 **"Hey, Tifa. I'm guessing you're getting to know your classmates better,"** Trey wanted to berate himself for not thinking of a smoother greeting and internally felt grateful that King was not being flirtatious with her today like he had been last time.

 **"I think by the end of the day, I'll get to know everyone,"** Tifa smiled at this. So far she has met Sice, the one who needs to keep guard of her love letters; Rem, the first person to actually say hello in the outdoor quad; Alvis, the guys she met at the amphitheater; Seven, a nice girl who had a misunderstanding but cleared things up, romance-wise; Eight, the martial artist and hopefully her future sparring partner whom she saw talking with a black haired male and a shorter, blond haired one (their faces reminded her of the two boys she met in the library); Trey, Jack and King, whom her boss likes to call the 'Three Blond Stooges' for some reason; and finally Cinque, her lovely new roommate. Now she had officially been introduced to Queen, Deuce and Nine.

 **"Teefy? Do you know them already?"** Cinque tilted her head curiously.

 **"A little. I met them at the café that I currently work at,"** the brunette replied.

 **"You'll be getting to know everyone in no time!"** she chimed. Looking sideways she heard the familiar heels walking into the halls and jingling the keys in her hand. Sice elbowed Nine hard and whispered, **"She's here. Did you tell her?"** she smirked, hoping that she'd win the bet that she had made with the other girls back in their dorm.

 **"Wha? What do you—"** He looked at the object of his affections as a voluptuous figure of a woman greeted the students and immediately lined up behind them. Sice groaned, wondering when he will ever pull the guts to tell her about his love-sick puppy love and receive a rejection that will ruin his entire school year.

 **"Good morning, everybody? Is everyone settled in?"**

 **"Yes, Ms. Emina."** The whole class chimed.

 **"Good! Come in everyone and take your seats."**

The students shuffled neatly into the classroom and took their seats. Cinque motioned over for Tifa to sit next to her and she had no qualms of the idea of sharing the same homeroom with her roommate for the entire iPACE program. She observed the classroom and saw that she was sharing the same row with Cinque, Queen and Deuce. Out of curiosity she looked behind her to see Trey, Jack, King and Nine. Somehow she ended up making eye contact with Trey for a moment and they exchanged smiles momentarily, as if they knew something the rest of the classroom didn't… the gesture didn't make sense but it was appreciated. Tifa decided that seeing a familiar face like this once in a while isn't so bad, as long as they don't come from Midgar High.

Everyone's attention was drawn to a two new people, one of them, Tifa already knows and was confused. _'Isn't that Alvis and isn't he from Class-One?'_

The other person he was accompanied, had cropped black hair and a serious face. He promptly handed a letter to Ms. Emina and muttered "Sudden transfer". She took it and read it for few seconds and nodded. **"Thank you, Izana. I was wondering why you were late."**

She motioned to Alvis to take his seat. He did not act as though he noticed Tifa from the amphitheater and the time he accompanied her to meet all the teachers during Orientation Day. He took a sit all the way at the back like the uninterested delinquent loner Tifa would categorize him as. _'Well, at least he doesn't come from Midgar High. Not that I know of anyway.'_

 **"Welcome to Class-Zero. I'm Miss Emina Hanaharu, but please, just call me Miss Emina. Everyone does,"** the teacher started, **"I'll be your homeroom teacher for this year. Congratulations to making it for the iPACE program where all six of your subjects are categorized Higher Level! Now do not be alarmed, it is a challenge. But I have confidence that all of you will do well."**

Trey took the time to subtly get Tifa's attention by tapping her shoulder with the back of his pen, **"Pst, Tifa. What do you have after Math?"**

Tifa slightly looked over her shoulder and mouthed, **"Wutainese."**

Trey grinned and whispered, **"Me too. You take history?"**

 **"Hah. No,"** Tifa snorted, **"Do you take magitek?"**

 **"Yes! Are you in Music?"**

 **"Yes."**

Trey mentally ticked off every subject that he shares with her and was very happy to know that she shares five out of six with him which meant that he gets to show her around if Cinque wouldn't mind. He didn't think she would but with her, no one really knows. She goes at the beat of her own drum.

Tifa bit her lower lip and shook her head and turned her focus to her homeroom teacher. As she observed her, she thought that Ms. Emina probably fulfills every male fantasy of their 'sexy teacher' and she must be popular with the gentlemen just as much as that masked man teacher was with the girls in school. _'It'll be ridiculous if every teacher here looked like fitness models,'_ she thought.

 **"This is Izana Kunagiri and he is my assistant. If you have any questions concerning the iPACE program, feel free to ask him. He can also help you with your classwork and give you advice on how to face your final exams. He also has a special announcement regarding your optional physical education course."**

 **"Good morning, everyone,"** Izana stepped forward. His eyes briefly flickered to his younger brother, Machina before facing the entire class. **"As, Ms. Emina mentioned, if you have any questions regarding iPACE protocols, please come and see me. I am often found in the staff room or wandering aimlessly in the halls,"** he added humorously, **"I believe all of you have chosen your courses well. But if you feel the need to change, remember you have one supplementary week to decide. So if you decide you do not want to take your initially chosen course, please come and see me to discuss the change. Remember, after this week, you have to stick with your chosen courses for the entire iPACE program; a two-year program that will determine your academic future in higher education and quite possibly, your future careers," he concluded. "But this isn't the only announcement I have for you."**

Izana pulled out several sheets of paper and gave it to Queen muttering, **"Take one and pass it along."**

Stepping back he continued, **"These are forms for your optional physical education. If you do not wish to join, you are required to fill in the box below detailing very good reasons and we why and expect a doctor's note within a week's due. This is due to the fact that you are Class-Zero and this academy has very high expectations of you. You are all required to take a preliminary exam that will test your performance, regardless of your choice. Those who performs exceptionally well have the choice to enter Dissidia Prep."**

There were excited murmuring across the room. Obviously, the prospect of a chance to enter the Dissidia Tournament was exciting to just anyone and she wouldn't blame them. Next year will be 2X04, a leap year in which old and new contestants have a reunion in the 'Quarterly Dissidia Tournaments' and they are the biggest events worldwide.

Tifa's hands shook as she finally came to the point of making her choice. Her first choice she was more tempted to cross the box next to 'Gymnastics' but instead she closed her eyes and thought back on what Elfé had said about being in Class-Zero. _'Don't make a reckless choice. Don't make a reckless choice. Don't be reckless. Don't be reckless. Don't be reckless!'_

Tifa suddenly crossed the box next to 'Dissidia Prep' as her very first choice. Her second choice was gymnastics since it's the next closest thing to martial arts.

 _'I made a reckless choice. Yay, me. Way to go, Tif,'_ she berated she glared at her form, as if to accuse it for making her make the more exciting, thrill seeking, courageous choice.

Cinque noticed her from the corner of her eyes and felt her trepidation with her from. She leaned over and peeked over Tifa's shoulder then whispered, **"Are you okay, Teefy? What did that mean paper do to you? Did it cut your finger and give you a boo-boo?"** She giggled.

Tifa was startled then bit down a laugh and shook her head, **"No. I just decided to make Dissidia Prep my first choice. I'm going to make a fool out of myself today,"** she explained jokingly. Tifa was in fact, very anxious about her own choice and didn't understand why she would dive head first into being a possible contestant for the Tournaments but she did and she couldn't blame Elfé's prompting either. While Elfé and Lightning are her two favorite idols, she was nervous about making a poor first impression on her fellow classmates. She didn't want to look like the type of person that chews more than she could swallow.

Cinque patted her shoulder and whispered, **"Don't worry! I'm rooting for you. And if you pass, I'll be your very own personal cheerleader."**

 **"Aw, thanks Cinque. That means a lot to me,"** Tifa said sincerely.

Trey had overheard the conversation between her and Cinque. He knew that it was rude but he couldn't help it. Even if Tifa didn't choose Dissidia Prep as her first choice, he would choose Dissidia regardless as it was something that had interested him for a while now. He liked the idea of taking a new challenge and a thrill and he felt that it would balance out his personal view of himself; a geek that is lucky enough to be in a band. He doesn't have any personal idols, but he was impressed by Sephiroth Crescent, Genesis Rhapsodos, Kain Highwind and Lightning Farron. There were others too, such as Squall Leonhart from last year, but there were so many impressive contestants that he couldn't choose one. But he was beside himself, feeling like a giddy little school girl to know that he could possibly share one bonus subject with Tifa if he passes. He had renewed determination to fight at his level best and use his talents as an archer to get into the course.

But if his best wasn't enough, he would have to be happy with Sports & Health, which will enable him to continue his archery club activities.

 **"Is everyone done? If you are, please pass your papers forward and I will have them sent to the faculty. I would like to inform of you of your instructor for Dissidia, but I don't want to ruin the element of surprise,"** Izana said wryly. **"Your P.E evaluation starts today till tomorrow," he promptly took the reassembled forms from Ace and continued, "And that is that. I wish you the very best of luck and hope that you enjoy the iPACE program at its fullest. It's challenging, invigorating and proactive; but I have no doubt that Class-Zero will pass with flying colors."**

 **"Class, I will see you all at 15:00 as I am going to be your Literature teacher for the entire program. I'll tell you now, I don't offer homework! In fact, nobody here does as this is a boarding school. But you have a lot of classwork and partnership or group projects in exchange. I hope that we can all get along well with each other and that you will get along well with your other peers. All rise!"**

The entire class promptly stood up at the command. Tifa was quick to learn this etiquette, even if she was slightly taken aback by this etiquette. In Midgar High, when class was dismissed, most of the pupils didn't even bother to bid goodbye to the teacher. Often the teacher would just slouch over the table and rub his or her temples, the pupils would shuffle through the door, most enthusiastic to get out of the classroom as if they had suffered from an extreme case of claustrophobia. Tifa would either be the first or the last to leave the classroom. She used to always make sure to choose a seat that was closest to the door in the middle. She wondered if she would change this habit or not.

 **"Dismissed. Have a good day everybody! See you soon!"**

* * *

 _'Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me,'_ Tifa managed to look down at her feet with great interest as she rolled her eyes so that no one can see her expression when she saw that masked man that was apparently going to be her math teacher for two academic years. _'I don't care how popular he is with the girls! He might have piranha teeth! Or bad breath! I'm calling him Piranha in my head… sometimes I love my brain,'_ she congratulated herself for not being a giddy school girl and just a … person.

 **"Good morning everyone. I'm Mr. Kurasame and I'll be your iPACE math teacher. As you know, since this is an academy and boarding school, we have a unique policy of giving no homework. But instead, we have longer class hours and plenty of classwork and projects to keep you sharp. Before you take your seats, I have some news for you."**

Nine was the first to groan at this, as if knowing where this was going. Mr. Kurasame ignored him.

 **"This year, I am going to have to pair you up and designate your seats at all time. You will have partnership projects and your table partner is going to be your partner for the entire time."**

Sice just hoped that she won't be paired with Nine and she wasn't the only one. There are others who wondered who they will get paired up with and who gets to be unlucky enough to be paired with Nine. He is athletically talented and is a mean javelin thrower, but his academic performance is dubious at best. Trey on the other hand hopes to be partnered with Tifa… or another girl.

 _'What's wrong with me? It's not like she's my girlfriend or anything!'_ he mentally berated himself.

 **"I shall now announce the partners. Ace and Tifa."**

Trey suppressed a groan.

Ace and Tifa gave each other cautious looks.

 _'What, blondie? Do I have something on my face?'_ Tifa thought irritatingly.

 _'Oh no… I have never seen her before. I hope we get along. She's… kinda pretty I guess. I wonder if she is the scholarship student everyone kept rambling about.'_

In the end, Tifa offered him a shy smile as they took their seats with a small, **"Hello."**

 **"Uh, hello. I'm Ace."**

 **"Tifa. Nice to meet you. Hope we get along."**

 **"Same…"**

There was some quiet between them. _'Well this is awkward. Come on, Tifa! Be sociable! Just … tell him about what Principal Chival said! And don't make yourself sound stupid. Or just don't talk. Don't talk. Don't talk. Don't talk…'_

 **"Principal Chival said that you and Queen are valedictorians,"** she started and successfully did not slap her palm against her face.

Ace turned his face away to hide a small blush and offered humbly, **"I'm not really all that great, but if he says so… Thanks I guess."**

 **"I'm new to Rubrum, too… So it's my first day here as well."**

 **"So… are you the scholarship student?"** Ace asked carefully.

This time Tifa looked away and nodded, **"Everyone keeps asking me that."**

 **"Oh. Sorry,"** he unnecessarily apologized.

She shook her head. **"It's okay. And yes. But I'm still worried. I mean, there must be a gap in standards between VBA and my old high school. So I asked the principal who I can go to for help and he mentioned you and Queen."**

Ace was still guarded by nature but understood her a little. **"Well, if you need help, I'd be happy to guide you. Math is one of my best subjects."**

 **"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. I just don't want to let you down. Sorry that you got stuck with me,"** she said, trying to humorously elevate the tension of being the new girl with self-depreciation. And it worked somewhat.

Ace offered a small smile and said, **"Don't worry about it."**

 _'She came here in scholarship. So she must be really smart, there is no way she can bring anyone down… so why is she apologizing?'_ he wondered. But he felt at ease around her somewhat for today and Tifa had been friendly, if a little shy and anxious. She seemed to be a serious student too and he was sure that working with her will be much easier than working with Machina.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kurasame continued to call out the pairs, **"Rem and Eight; Alvis and Cater; Sice and Deuce."**

Sice sighed in relief as she sat next to Deuce. They may not be math whizzes but they can work together well enough. _'Plus its better than being stuck with talkative Trey,'_ she thought sardonically.

 **"Seven and Trey."**

Trey was still a little bummed that Tifa was paired up with Ace but if rumors were correct, Ace was going out with Mutsuki so he has no competition for now. He was glad he wasn't paired up with Nine either or he'll have to do all the work. And unlike Sice and Cater, Seven was polite enough to tell him when he's suffering a case of verbal diarrhea. _'Sometimes I wish I could get away with not talking like King…'_ he thought enviously.

 **"Nine and Machina."**

A series of snorts erupted from the room as Machina rubbed his forehead, mumbling, **"This is going to be a long year."**

 **"What was that?"**

 **"… Nothing."** Machina replied tersely. It is obvious that they aren't fond of each other.

 **"Jack and Cinque; and finally Queen and King."**

 _'The pairs are so apt here. But why did everyone giggle at Machina and Nine?'_ She looked back and recognized Machina to be the guy that had ignored library etiquette from yesterday. Ace was still giggling as he could practically feel Machina's glare on his back. Tifa tilted her head with an inquisitive expression and Ace supplied, **"These two don't get along well. They fight like cats and dogs."**

 **"Oh. A violent history?"** she asked.

 **"Meh, something like that,"** Ace shrugged and adjusted his spectacles.

Some of his mannerisms reminded her of Cloud. But Ace wasn't the sort of guy with a catch phrase. Cloud would often say, 'Let's mosey' or 'Not interested' and sport the too-cool-for-school look on his face. It's no wonder Seifer had wanted to punch him at every chance he got. Ace was interested in school, good at math and wore glasses. But he was guarded. So was Cloud. She wondered if it had to do with his own visions but she immediately shrugged the thought. Visions are a pain to think about.

 **"Take one and pass it along,"** Mr. Kurasame handed some papers to Ace. **"Take this as a quiz. You have 45 minutes to finish the quiz and we'll use it as an evaluation on how much you know. Don't worry if you do not get good grades. This is so that we can get everyone on the same page. Is everyone ready? We start in five, four, three, two… one. Go."**

Students immediately read the questions and scribbled their best answers on paper. Tifa found out that there were questions that were divided into seven sub-topics of iPACE mathematics; Algebra, Functions & Equations, Circular Functions & Trigonometry, Vectors, Statistics & Probability, Calculus and Discrete Mathematics. She was able to answer the first four topics easily and got stuck at the harder questions on the last four. She understood the basics very well and even managed to solve problems of medium-level difficulty once she was done wracking her brains. She couldn't even touch on the Discrete Mathematics save for the first 'easy-level' problem. The clock ticked to the last minute and they students dropped their pens and stopped.

 **"Now, hand your paper to your partner and we can start grading each other together,"** said Mr. Kurasame.

 _'This is either going to give me an inferiority complex to a whole new level or this is just Piranha's way of teaching us how to work together as partners. It's true, studying with another person can help improve grades but not necessarily… I mean, I'm lucky to be paired up with Ace, I guess. But is he lucky to be paired up with me?!'_

As they graded each other while Mr. Kurasame explained the problem solving process briefly and concisely, Tifa learned that Ace was well ahead of everyone and even with sheer guess work he got all of the 'Vector' problems right and has more knowledge of Statistics & Probability than one would expect. His hardest subject however is Calculus as is shown that he got the first parts of the problem solving process right but lost his way in the middle. Tifa smiled at this, even though she knows that she shouldn't, but happily used her blue pen to correct his paper and follow through Mr. Kurasame's lecture carefully and meticulously.

When it was time to give each other's papers back, Ace asked, **"How did I do?"**

 **"Well, you did really well. Even your guess work was stellar. I'm kind of intimidated by your 73%,"** she grinned.

 **"You're intimidated? Look at your 70%. You'll be better than me sooner than later."**

Tifa shook her head but appreciated his gesture. **"I just want to do a really good job. I do want to push my limit, but I don't want to let myself down,"** she sighed.

 _'Also, I'm dedicating my good grades to Aerith in hopes that the positive energy will wake her up. Yes. Look at me. I am desperately clinging into the law of attraction to help my comatose friend… I got nothing else,'_ she thought to herself morosely.

 **"Guess we have that in common. I want to get into higher education. My best friend, Machina, he's smart, but very lazy. I'm sure he'll have a blast with Nine though,"** he snorted.

 **"Is Nine that bad?"** Tifa asked, raising her eyebrow. She doesn't want to make the judge the guy quickly but it doesn't hurt to know about someone from others from time to time.

 **"Uh… the things he says makes us think otherwise. But nobody knows about his grades for some reason. Maybe he's embarrassed,"** Ace shrugged, **"Look. I'm not the gossiping type, but Queen told me that Nine, eloquently demonstrated his 'cultural awareness' side by claiming to be able to name the four dominions of Orience… when it's just common knowledge,"** he smiled despite himself. He has known his friends of Class-Zero for so long that they were almost like siblings to him.

Tifa laughed a little and replied, **"He sounds funny."**

 **"He is."**

* * *

Trey had been the first one to offer Tifa to show her where the language department was. Tifa wasn't terrible with directions, but she was surprised at the scrutinizing detail that Trey offered her; he even told her where each of the fire hydrants were. **"So glad we get to take Wutai together. I saw that you had a Wutainese pastry back in Tarot's. What was it called… oh right? The White Rose cake. You know, there is a history behind this pastry."**

 **"Sweet tooth, much?"** Tifa asked, feeling a giggle bubbling up from her throat. It was a little strange to see a guy this sweet toothed but she found herself liking this particular quirk of his.

 **"Oh god, Trey you are going to bleed her ears to death with your talking!"** came a voice from behind them. Trey looked dismayed as Cater and Sice walked past him and each grabbed an elbow on Tifa's side and pulled her away from him.

 **"Hey!"**

 **"You can talk to her later, loser,"** Sice called back and pulled Tifa further away and whispered, "You're welcome, by the way."

Tifa was confused and frowned at them, **"Uh… thank you but why?"**

Sice paused and looked at her as if she had grown another head. **"You're kidding, right?"**

 **"I don't understand,"** Tifa pressed.

Cater snorted and asked, **"You mean to tell me that you like that guy's verbal diarrhea. He talks… and talks. And he doesn't know when to shut up!"**

 **"Uh… I never felt that way."** Tifa was still confused. She was sociable enough but she was more the type to listen to others rather than speak for herself. She likes listening to others, what excites them, even if it was the famed White Rose cake.

 **"You will eventually,"** Cater said dismissively, **"I'm Cater by the way. We met before right? But we never introduced ourselves."**

 **"Yeah. I remember you. You jumped off the porch instead of running down the stairs, stepped on poor Eight and ran off. How was your mock exam?"**

 **"Oooh! How embarrassing! I haven't even apologized to Eight yet!"** Cater cried exasperatedly as she clutched her head, **"And thank you for being there to help us up. So anyway, my make-up exams were okay. I passed. Thank god that's over and done with! That's what I get for procrastinating on my art project. Well, this year, I decided to take Theater! What about you?"**

 **"I am taking Music."**

 **"Ugh, you get to be with Trey again there,"** Sice rolled her eyes. **"Hit me up if you want to switch to Film."**

 **"Right. I'll keep that in mind. I just realized that I have met just about everyone right now. I wasn't formally introduced to you, Cater, till now, and Ace and Machina. Actually, I still don't know Machina yet."**

 **"So how is it that you know Ace but not Machina?"** Sice asked.

 **"Thanks for reminding me! I just remembered something,"** Tifa turned her head to look over to Ace who was talking to Eight and Trey, **"Ace! Remember the book that you left in the library? I returned it for you. Yeah, I was there. Small world, huh? I didn't know who you were at that time?"**

Ace looked confused at first, then realization had hit him and he didn't know if he should feel embarrassed by Machina's display or grateful that his book was returned. He chose to feel the later. **"Wow, really? Thanks, Tifa. I owe you. What are the chances…"** he said.

Cater looked between them back and forth and grinned, **"I get the feeling you're going to fit in with us just fine."**

 _'And I love the fact that Cater isn't going to ask me if I am a scholarship student.'_

 **"So… scholarship student, huh? Must be something."** Cater said.

 _'I thought too soon,'_ Tifa groaned and nodded her head. **"Everyone keeps clamoring about that. But I want to be treated like everyone else. It's a lot of pressure when teachers expect a lot from me you know,"** she explained lightly.

 **"No need to worry then! I'm not all about fancy titles either."** Cater reassured confidently. **"I'm all about valor,"** she added with flair.

When they reached their class, they met their Wutai teacher, Mr. Tseng Sancest. He had the aura of Midgar all over him and Tifa rapidly felt a bad migraine seer through her brain. Thankfully, that was all she felt and regained her regular breathing when she realized that she was not having a vision. But that feeling of knowing him somewhat did not go away.

Mr. Sancest was a serious man that will take no nonsense and will follow his school courses to the letter. It was said that he may be related to Celeste Sancest, a well-known Concordian politician. The Academy has a knack for hiring the best of the best, even those that have connections with political big wigs. But he was no joke and from the first instructions, one can tell that he was all about efficiency and can drill knowledge into your brain when asked. His classroom had its tables and chairs arranged in a semi-circle so everyone was facing each; this was very tactful and useful for getting the students to communicate with each other when they speak Wutainese.

He started his lesson cordially and taught them how to use Wutainese formalities and gave them the tools to introduce themselves and handed them a list of useful vocabulary for them to use.

 **"Let us start by learning to introduce ourselves. I have given you the tools. Turn to our designated partners sitting next to you, and speak."**

Mr. Sancest was obviously fond of Mr. Kurasame's idea of designating partners rather than letting the pupils sit next to their best friends. But unlike in math class, the partners were temporary rather than the entire semester. Eight and Mutsuki had a rather awkward but passable introductory presentation. Trey cursed his luck again for not being paired with Tifa, but worked well and cordially with Alvis. Tifa was a little surprised that the ex-street gangster was rather decent in his first try. Ace and Sice were awkward as they kept getting their accent wrong and Sice was still struggling with the grammar. Tifa thought that she got the grammar right but her gap in vocabulary is evident and she would have to rectify that soon and Cater was no better either. But they managed to pull through using standard words and sentence structures without making a fool of themselves. All in all, it had been a productive class.

* * *

Nobody from her Wutai class had psychology, but Trey was still nice enough to show her how to get to the 'Social Studies' department (each department was really a building of its own) and finished his story of the White Rose cake.

 **"And because Princess Yu'fey was so pleased with Odin's gift of the rose that she demanded it to be iced with white crystalline sugar. That's where the head chef took the idea to make the White Rose cake, since each princess was called the White Rose of Wutai. It's also known to be a favorite birthday cake for fathers to give to their daughters, since daughters are always their little princesses."**

Tifa gave a wistful look at that. She was a princess. But then she was forced to see herself as a heartache and burden to her father; even if he had been very unfair and unjust towards her after her mother's death.

 **"Tifa… are you okay? Did I say something strange?"** Trey asked, not missing the look when he said the last sentence and wondered if he had been insensitive.

She quickly shook her head and her wistful look was covered with the placid, serene face that always sported the polite smile. **"Yeah, I was just thinking about how much you know. I was also remembering my friend who is Wutainese. I just realized that she must have been named after the princess you just mentioned in your cake story."**

She remembered how excited Yuffie was every time her birthday approached and presented her, Aerith, Cloud and Zack a piece of her famed White Rose cake; that's why she had been rather surprised to find the same cake here in Rubrum, in Tarot Café. Of course, Wutai isn't that far from Rubrum and takes three hours by plane to get there.

 **"I see. Anyway, this is your classroom… and hey if you ever want to take history and memorize years and dates, I can help you with that,"** he offered jokingly, knowing very well that Tifa will have a much more interesting class. **"That's pretty much the only reason I took history. It's a bunch of dates, numbers, casualties and happenings. Nothing more. I can breeze through it."**

 **"With a brain like yours, I don't doubt it."**

 **"So… why did you take psychology?"** Trey asked.

 **"… An attempt to try to understand myself I guess,"** Tifa murmured absentmindedly.

Trey didn't hear her very well, **"Huh?"**

 **"I mean, it just sounds challenging and fun."** Tifa quickly replied.

 **"Hey Tifa! You're here! How was your class? Thinking of changing to dragon speak?"** Cinque came out of nowhere startling Tifa as she clutched her heart a little.

 **"Cinque, it's not Dragon speak its Soryusian, a dialect of Concordian language. Why can't you ever get that right?"**

 **"If I say its Dragon speak, its Dragon speak. And I want to ride a dragon. And I shall call her Toothy and Toothy shall be mine and she shall be my Toothy and Toothy's going to be cute,"** Cinque said flippantly. Her flippant nature effectively silenced Trey in shock. **"Don't you want to ride a dragon Tifa? I've always dreamed of going for a ride at Dragon Sanctuary. Maybe I can take you with me to Concordia!"**

 **"That actually sounds like a great idea. But I think I'd like to stick to Wutai. The lesson's been great and the language was easy for me to pick up."**

"Ah, what a shame." Cinque pouted but felt happy for her friend.

 **"I noticed that you had a pretty good accent, Tifa,"** Trey commented.

Tifa just shrugged in response.

 _'That's because of Yuffie's constant badgering to get my pronunciation right and she would throw some of the most epic fits just because I couldn't get stretch my lips at certain words right. Boy was she the most loud-mouthed drill sergeant when we did projects and homework together. But looks like it paid off. Thanks Yuffie!'_ Tifa thought fondly.

* * *

 **"Ah! So we meet again! Makes me proud of my decision to take psychology rather than history,"** Rem said as she cheerily greeted her group.

The classroom tables were different and arranged in a way where four tables are attached to each other in a square and two students sat facing the other two. Rem sat opposite of Tifa and next to Machina and she remembered her well. She was the first girl to greet her and her cheerful, optimistic nature always helped her feel calm. **"It's nice to see you, again, Rem. Oh and you must be Machina. Are you Rem's friend?"** she asked curiously.

 **"Yes, we are. We've known each other since childhood."**

 _'So that must be the childhood friend, Rem talked about. I wish I had gotten along well with Cloud and maybe we could look like them.'_

 **"So, how do you find Rubrum?"** he asked tactfully. **"I mean… everyone probably knows a little about you now so…"** He might as well stick a foot in his mouth but he earned points for trying to use tact.

Tifa playfully rolled her eyes and said, **"Yes, yes the rumors are true. And I find Rubrum lovely, definitely more quaint and cleaner than Midgar. I don't know when I'm going to get used to a big mega city like that."**

 **"You know, I visited Cocoon once, and I discovered my biggest fear,"** Machina offered.

 **"Huh?"**

 **"Crowds,"** he replied monotonously.

 _'And now this is just comedic,'_ Tifa thought. **"I guess crowds can be annoying, noisy and hard to handle for anyone,"** she tried to comfort him.

 **"No, I'm serious. If I see a crowded place, I will walk the other way. I get stiff. It's called agoraphobia. I have a case of that."**

 **"I still think you are exaggerating, Machina,"** Rem commented wryly.

 **"I'm serious! Cocoon was a nightmare when there was a huge influx of people and I kept losing my suitcases and I lost my sense of direction. This doesn't happen to a country boy that travelled mountains…"** he groused, his face suddenly serious.

Cinque was beside herself giggling, not able to take him seriously.

 **"That's one of the reasons why I took this class. I'm interested in phobias. And how to fight against them,"** Machina said with conviction.

 **"Good! Maybe you can help me fight against spiders. Arachnophobia… is a pain. I still can't get over that prank you and Trey pulled on me on our summer camping trip. I will never forgive you,"** Cinque whispered the last part viciously.

Tifa raised her brow and was about to ask what happened to her in their camping trip until a sophisticated and elderly lady stood up in front of the classroom, happy to see everyone has settled down and commanded, **"All rise!"**

The students have promptly stood up straight.

 **"You may sit down."**

They sat down.

 **"Now. I believe it is time for some introductions. I'll start. My name is Tazuru Kisga, but you may call me Miss Kisga. I was born and brought up in Rubrum and had been teaching for more than a decade now. I will be your psychology teacher for the entire iPACE program and you may expect that I am a strict… but compassionate educator. You may be wondering why the classroom arrangement here is so different. That is because I want you all to communicate and participate with each other; we will debate, agree and disagree on a variety of topics, enhance your ability to present sound have arguments, and generally have a good time in each other's company. My hobbies include teaching, gardening and bowling. I chose to master in psychology, because I have always found the inner workings of the mind fascinating; the abstract concepts of love or fear, for example, shape us and define our personalities, and use them to try to answer the question 'Why am I me?' Or simply, 'is it just me or am I just crazy?'"**

The whole class laughed a little at the last part. It is evident that madness and chaos is an interesting subject in psychology and some would want to become criminologists but that isn't the only area of the mind psychology covers. Normal people too have their own 'madness' in them.

 **"Psychology isn't about trying to understand Harley Quinn's fall from grace, mind you. Yes, criminology is great but please, try not to let television and graphic novels influence your judgement."**

Tifa felt a hidden smirk creeping underneath her lips as she thought, _'Batman references never get old.'_

 **"Now, I want to know about you. Tell me your name, age, where you came from, what you like and dislike, and why you chose this course. Then you will answer the question, "What is madness to you" and get rid of the glamourous concept out of everyone's mind, until later in the course. Let's start with Table number… five."**

Table Five happened to be Tifa and her group's table.

 **"We'll start with you, young man."**

Machina gulped a little, obviously not fond of being the first to stand up in front of the whole class. Tifa couldn't blame him. Even if VBA's school culture was different from Midgar High, she had imagined herself being the only one to stand up in the whole class because of something she may have done and be humiliated. And she hated that daydream or 'day-mare' as she liked to call it. In the meantime, she decided to profit from observing the others go before her so that she can feel better prepared when its her turn to stand up.

 **"Hello. I'm Machina Kunagiri," he started awkwardly, "I'm seventeen and I came from a small village in Concordia before I moved to Rubrum as a child. I like fencing and outdoor activities like hiking. I hate being forced to eat green vegetables. Or any vegetables. And I don't like the fact that I am afraid of a lot of things,"** he shamefully admitted. **"That's why I chose this course. I'm morbidly interested in phobias and I want to know how to fight against them. Madness is almost the same as fear, fear makes you act irrationally, without thought and do things that are beyond norms or say hurtful things to people you care about."** He frowned, as if he suddenly remembered something and gave a slight look at Rem.

 **"Thank you, for sharing Machina. Next."**

Rem took her turn, **"I'm Rem Tokimiya, seventeen years old. I come from the same village as Machina. We both moved to Rubrum at the same time. I like fencing, too, reading comic books and jogging. I also like meeting new people and making new friends. I hate getting colds and I hate horror movies. I chose this course because I am acting on a silly ambition of mine to be the number one match-maker,"** the class giggled. **"Madness for me, is the act of doing something outside of normal. Of course, there is the question about 'what is normal' but, then, if that is so, then maybe madness is a form of ignorance; something we don't understand and we easily confuse it with the word 'chaos' as opposed to 'order'. Sanity I said to be the state of having a healthy mind which ensures a happy life. Therefore, I believe madness is the polar opposite,"** Rem finished.

 **"Thank you, Rem. I'm sure, we'll have many interesting heated debates concerning the topics of mental disorders and 'madness', won't we. Next."**

Tifa was about to get up but Cinque had beaten her to it… and she felt grateful for that.

 **"Helloooo~ I'm Cinque Innocenti, and I'm sixteen! I was born and raised in Rubrum. Hmm… I like kittens, shopping and games that involve me bludgeoning something. I like a lot of things but those are the three things that come to my mind right now. Oh and I love sports and I love my friends. Things I hate… hate is a strong words, so I'll hate the word 'hate'. Oh wait, things I dislike. Sorry, my bad, I dislike being alone, I think bugs are yucky and I don't like bitter foods. I took this course mainly because I didn't want to be stuck with a certain talkative classmate in History,"** she proudly announced.

 _'Poor Trey gets so much bashing from the girls,'_ Tifa thought but her smile widened.

 **"Oh and now that I think of it, I think I'm going to stick with this course because I want to know if telepathy is real or not. And why we dream. What does it mean to have dreams? What is the purpose of our visions? I mean puberty is hard enough as it is, right? I also want to know why some people are happy while others are grumpy."**

 _'… This girl… has some serious balls to go off talking about herself like that. I envy her honesty though,'_ Tifa softly sighed as she knew it was her turn.

 **"Well… thank you for, uh, your contribution. And those are some of the biggest questions asked in the field of psychology. Thank you for bringing them up. Next?"** Ms. Kisga prompted.

Tifa gracefully stood up from her seat and brushed the hem of her vest, _'Okay. Here goes nothing. It's just psychology, there is no right or wrong answer,'_ she reassured her own beating heart.

 **"Hello. I'm Tifa Lockhart. I'm fifteen years old."**

The class erupted in a murmur and she heard Machina distinctly whisper, **"Whoa! She's younger than Ace."**

Tifa blushed a little and swallowed, "I was born in a little village in the North Continent. Then I moved to Midgar for two years and finally decided to get myself transferred here. So far, life in Rubrum has been treating me well," she tactfully evaded any comment regarding 'scholarship' and 'being younger than Class-Zero's Ace'. **"I like martial arts, cooking, playing the piano and studying. I don't like…"**

 _'I don't like the fact that I am a fuck-up, I don't like the fact that I miss my friends back in Midgar. I don't like the fact that I had to leave so suddenly. I don't like the fact that I don't regret this decision but I live with it. I don't like that Aerith is in coma. I don't like myself. I don't like that I don't like myself. I don't like my visions. I don't like my doppelganger in weird outfits. I don't like bullies. I don't like judgmental people. I don't like the idea of showing my emotions. I don't like sharing how I feel all the time. I don't like being insecure. I don't like gods and goddesses. I don't like being afraid. I really… really hate being afraid to talk and say how I feel! I don't like being dishonest with myself. I don't like— I can't say any of this!'_

 **"Yes…?"** Ms. Kisga prompted.

 **"… Watching flowers wilt. For some reason they affect my mood. It's silly. I also don't like cramming and I don't like having salad as an entrée in a three-course meal. It ruins my appetite."**

 _'Should I mention that I don't like answering personal questions too soon and I hate it when people butt into my personal space… why did I take psychology again? Oh right… to learn to welcome people into my life. Aerith, this had better be worth it!'_

 **"And why did you choose this course?"** Ms. Kisga asked, noticing her hesitation.

 **"I took this course because I want to understand myself a little better and perhaps, learn to understand others two. Sometimes I feel like a walking contradiction… and I don't know how I can explain that. But maybe this course will help me get the tools I need to better explain myself."**

 _'Or give me courage… speaking of which.'_

Tifa continued, **"Madness for me used to be anything that threatens my livelihood, anything I have established to be a normal life… but now I believe madness is the flip side of courage; bravery. I'm not talking about thrill seeking. I'm talking about needing that 'something', that inspiration to suddenly do something without second thought. Or perhaps I am confusing it with instinct… Maybe madness is not a state of mind, it's a place,"** she thought carefully and paused before she flippantly added, **"Like Wonderland."**

Ms. Kisga chuckled, **"I figured someone would pull that reference sooner or later. Thank you for sharing. Now can we have table number one?"**

* * *

She remembered what Cid had told her. She will never be left alone. Now she understood the extent of how much company she will get. She was always used to studying alone. Aerith sometimes studies with her when she needs help. Math wasn't her strongest subject and she always complimented on Tifa's ability to turn algebra into mere child's play. This time, Tifa is forced into groups or partners chosen by teachers. She will be doing Math with Ace, learn to speak Wutainese with Cater or Trey (her top two preferences for now anyway), study and debate with Cinque, Rem and Machina in psychology and now she is going to be in her biggest group yet for the most influential and exciting field of study; Information Technology & Magitek. Or more simply, Magitek. They are the most important technology for creating simulations, create catalysts for medical procedures, extracting information from relics left behind by the supernatural when they were influential on Gaia unlike today. The first part of the subject to master was in fact Information Technology or IT for short; manning a computer, breaking a basic firewall and even hacking and decoding. Magitek is often used to hunt down other magitek and neutralize any abnormal activity; in a way the study tries to transform 'magic' into an explainable and useable science through heavy use of technology and algorithms.

The Dissidia Tournaments is said to rely on Magitek to create its simulations and creative obstacle courses; Magitek can even create the most realistic landscapes in order for contestants to participate in drawn out duels. Cocoon love to use Magitek to create simulations, force fields and greenhouses.

There is a reason why Magitek have so many students; the chance to do exciting field work was too good to resist. There are other sciences of course; Biology, Alchemy; Physics and Design and Technology and often the subjects overlap each other. But this year is recorded to have the highest number of Class-Zero students taking the Magitek course.

 **"Settle down, settle down class!"**

The classroom was similar to her homeroom where there were benches and table tos arranged in long rows; similar to those one would see in universities where a professor gives lectures to a large audience of students. Only this classroom is the miniature version. The ambience certainly prepares students for university with its academic environment.

 **"My name is Edea Kramer, you may call me Kramer. I will be your iPACE educator in the field of Information Technology and Magitek. You see the fancy forms in front of you? You tell me who you are, and why took this course. Now I know most of you are very much looking forward to the field work part of Magitek so I feel it's fair for me to warn you; the first part of the iPACE program I want to get the boring stuff out of the way."**

There were some whining among the students.

 **"Oh come now! Don't be like that,"** Ms. Kramer chided, **"The theoretical and IT part is just as fun in the classroom as it is outside of classroom. I will teach you the many fancy tools needed for data collection and analysis, demonstrate well-known exciting experiments, and invite various academic VIPs to give you seminars. This year I had managed to get in touch with Cid Raines himself to give us a lecture on floating technology and formulas and computations needed to create an effective force field and aerodynamic simulations. Doesn't that sound fun guys?"**

The class was already murmuring at hearing the name of Cid Raines. Raines seldom lets reporters interview him in person and most of his pictures were taken with groups of other important business men, but never on the cover of gossip magazines; not even a single fashion magazine. He had always been a very private person. But Tifa had met him in person and knows that he is in fact, very charismatic and generous. She wondered if she should feel a little too special for this.

 **"Holy and Lifestream, Cid Raines… This is so cool,"** she heard Trey whisper as he was sitting next to her.

 **"You're a fan of him?"**

 **"Well… not many people know this but he is also a mad biker on the road. He has some of the highest scores in Golden Saucer's G-Bike competitions. The simulations there are perfect. You have to ride a bike while using its artillery to hunt down Bahamuts, Concordian dragons, WEAPON monsters and mysterious beasts called they like to call Cie'th if you go to really tough levels. The games there are more dangerous than the obstacle course in the Dissidia Tournaments. But everyone's sense of danger and thrill is relative… Hey which P.E. course did you sign up for?"** Trey suddenly changed topic, hoping for the 'right' answer. And the 'right' answer he did get in case Tifa changed her mind the last minute and chose something else.

Tifa gulped and said, **"Dissidia Prep… was my first choice. I still don't know what I was thinking."**

Trey wanted to peel with laughter as he found yet another triumph. He felt more motivated to pass the Dissidia Tests and hopefully enter the Tournaments, even if it meant going against Nine, VBA's most athletic student.

 **"Don't worry. I'm here for you,"** he whispered. **"And so is King. And if Nine feels nice enough, he can show you some tricks."**

 **"If you two are done whispering, I'd like you to hand in your forms!"** Ms. Kramar ordered teasingly. She doesn't mind if students whisper in her class, as long as they keep quiet and not when she was lecturing.

Tifa handed her form over to her as did Trey who used all his will power to fight down the blush that threatened to creep up his face.

In any case, from the 'field works' Tifa has learned that this subject will certainly overlap her 'Dissidia Prep' course and she couldn't lie to herself about the exciting idea of entering the Dissidia Tournaments. She closed her eyes for a moment asking, _'Aerith… Am I doing the right thing? I have meet some really nice people and some of them made very good first impressions. I hope I did too. But is it right for me to enter something as awesome as Dissidia? Would you approve… even though you are in hospital. Can I pretend that you are watching over me?'_

For some reason, Tifa felt an airy, light smile on her friends face at the back of her mind and she opened her eyes and took out her notebook, feeling fully prepared for the challenges of this intriguing subject. _'Okay Tifa Lockhart. Time to take notes… like a boss!'_

* * *

Tifa did a touble take when she looked at her schedule and understood a little on why the school hours are long. It was lunch time and her stomach grumbled from all the brainwork and socializing.

 _'Holy! This school has the most generous lunch hour! I could just eat really quickly and go to the library. Maybe study. Do a little reading… no. I won't do that. I have done that plenty already. What did Aerith say?'_ she reminisced.

* * *

 _ **"Hmm? Tifa, what are you doing in here, cooped up around books?"**_

 _Tifa looked up from her reading and found her friend, Aerith with her ever calming and ethereal presence. She was so light, even in the way she walks; it's as if she is stepping on bubbles. Tifa hid her face behind her book again, hiding an embarrassed blush._

 _ **"I thought I should just read ahead since I finished my English homework,"** she muttered softly._

 _ **"Seriously?! What are you? Speedy Gonzales?"**_

 _Aerith snatched the paper that had been lying around next to her books and took a look at them, her eyes widened. **"And all this must be… two-thousand words!"** Her eyes bulged as she reached the ending. **"And it's well written and I don't see spelling mistakes."**_

 _ **"Are you grading me, Aer?"**_

 _ **"Tif. You need to get outside. Now."**_

 _ **"But—"**_

 _ **"Now!"** Aerith asserted firmly. _

_Tifa sighed and closed her books. It wasn't as if the whole school will collapse if she reads another chapter ahead of everyone. But Aerith had a point. She didn't really feel very happy when she studied alone like this. She has done that back in Nibelheim and the only time her father would be kind to her was if she came back home with good test scores. She earned a small smile and a pat on the head. That was as far as it went. And in Midgar, she found herself back into the old pattern; study and study hard or she'll get left behind. But by who… and why? She never knew. That's why she looked at Aerith as her personal guardian angel and savior. She learned that one can learn and 'be ahead' with the times by having fun too once in a while._

 _Packing her things she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "So, where are we going?"_

 _ **"My favorite spot,"** her friend replied with a smile._

* * *

 **"Tifa, where do you go normally to have lunch?"**

Tifa was brought out of her reminiscing and looked at Cinque who cutely tilted her head to one side and had her hands behind her back. _'Hm. Aerith would do the same thing to. What is it about that girly pose that makes me want to bend over backwards just to placate them?'_ she thought and shook her head in response. **"Don't people normally eat in the cafeteria?"** For some reason, eating in the cafeteria seemed so gauche since she has the pass to be allowed to eat outside of the school campus. Especially for this generous one hour gap between 12:30 to 13:30.

 **"True, when I was a freshmen I would eat with my friends in the cafeteria. And when I was in sophomore, I took some home economics class with my friends and we would eat our 'classwork' for lunch. It's really fun. I'm thinking of joining the Cooking Club. I'll even make you some fabulous lunch boxes. You can be my taste tester!"** Cinque clapped joyfully.

 _'I don't see why not Cinque,'_ Tifa smiled, **"Sure."**

 **"That and if it rains too badly outside, that's when most people go to the cafeteria. But as long as the sky's not crying, we can profit from our ID permits, don't you think? Just imagine, we can go to a café and enjoy ourselves some hot cocoa during the winter. Time well spent, too!"**

 **"I agree. So where are we going?"** Tifa asked.

 **"I believe I might know of a good place, girls?"** Trey invited himself into the conversation smoothly.

 **"Oh really? Now we are interested,"** Queen came into view with Deuce. Deuce waved at them, **"Hello! Did you enjoy your classes so far?"**

 **"Sure did! So Trey? Where do you think we should go?"** asked Cinque.

 **"Please don't tell me we are going to Tarot Café. That's where I work,"** Tifa slightly begged, imploring him to not confirm her answer. Thankfully, he didn't.

 **"Nope. Well that would be a little weird. And what's the problem? It's how you met me and my band,"** Trey winked. He couldn't help but give himself a few brownie points for pulling a smooth one. It was insignificant, small but still well-played and smooth. **"Anyway, I was thinking we should all go to Angeli Avenue and eat at Orbis. Everyone loves Orbis."**

 **"Did I hear Orbis?"** Jack piped, accompanied by King.

 **"Why does everyone love Orbis?"** Tifa asked suddenly.

Trey blinked but remembered that Tifa was still new to Rubrum and probably didn't have a proper chance to do a good touring around the country or even the whole city. So he proceeded to explain, **"It's popular because—"**

 **"Trey, don't spoil it for her,"** Queen gently reprimanded, then smiled at Tifa. **"You'll see why."**

 **"Well, let's all go together before all the seats are taken. There are…"** Deuce started head counting, **"Seven of us. We should be able to snatch two tables and push them next to each other."**

She wondered if being accepted to eat with a group means that she has been accepted into some sort of clique. As far as she knew, there weren't any cliques. Sure, there were people who belonged to different levels of classes and they tend to hang around in their own level but there is a lot of interaction between Class-Zero and Class-One since they share a lot of courses together. But there wasn't a 'popular girl' or 'school jock'. There weren't any ridiculous quotas and requirements to join a clique or gang in high school. She checked her bag to see if she has everything and nodded in satisfaction, feeling prepared to feel accepted by the school environment. And if it still doesn't work out in the end, at least she could say that she gave it her best.

 _'Aerith will not want me to coop myself up. Besides, I'm just eating out with good people. And they are good people,'_ she thought as she looked at the classmates she was walking side by side with.

* * *

Midgar

* * *

 **"So… Tifa was absent in the end,"** Cloud said slowly. Yuffie drummed her fingers on the cafeteria table and Zack was determined to chew gum as noisily as possible.

 **"She changed her phone, or just doesn't pick up her phone. And she's absent. Zack, what if something happened to her?"**

 **"Nothing happened to her Cloud!"** Yuffie suddenly shouted, surprising both of them. **"Cloud, you're always so negative and you can be a total downer-brat. Yeah, that's my new word of the day and that's what you are. Stupid Chocobo! Aerith is in the hospital. That's a big deal and we are all trying our best here. Tifa is AWOL. But that's not a big deal. She's been hurt but she's a strong girl. She'll be here tomorrow. Maybe she's sick. We'll barge into her house and scold her so much that she'll be too embarrassed to not call us again."**

 **"Uh… Yuffie. Have you even met Tifa?"** Cloud asked, **"She's quiet. And she was a social recluse. I should have noticed earlier. Tried harder. Why didn't we pull these pranks before? Seifer is officially scratching his butt everywhere he goes and now he is walking out with pink hair."**

 **"Speaking of which,"** Zack grinned and looked at his watch. They had P.E before lunch on Monday… a rather weird scheduling system that only Midgar High could come up with. **"He should be screaming in three… two… one…"**

 **"AAAAAAAAAH!"**

Zack's grin was one of absolute evil and his eyes were filled with an uncharacteristic mania that one wouldn't be able to imagine that a cheerful and optimistic guy like him could possess. **"It's been done!"**

Seifer had quickly changed into his casual clothes and came straight into the cafeteria (as the school architecture unfortunately couldn't permit him to escape in some other direction, the boys' and girls' shower area was just too close to the cafeteria which also lead to the indoor gym. Therefore, he had to suffer the misfortune of everyone witnessing what has been done to his hair.

 **"Kya-ha-ha!"**

Zack, Cloud and Yuffie cringed at the infamous laugh that belonged to none other than… Scarlet.

 **"Nice look, Seif! Did you get a job at the gays-only strip club?"** the blond girl mocked.

Her new best friend, Jihl, looked up from her nails that she had been filing and started to reel in laughter. **"Ho-ho-ho! Hee-ho! Seify! You look so pretty like a princess. Princess Seify! Maybe Prince Squall will come and swoop you by your feet. You seem so fixated on him, anyway."**

The two popular girls (or bitches) continued to mock and laugh.

 _'Jeez… they really need to do something about that laughing. Otherwise, their pretty faces will turn all old and saggy and they will be spinsters with thousands of cats,'_ Cloud thought as he looked disdainfully at the two women.

Yuffie whispered to Zack, **"Can't believe these two bitches act the same even after that incident. I mean Scarlet's best friend just died. Poor Cissnei. And what does the bitch do? Get a new BFF. Bitch-Friend-Forever."**

Zack nodded and decided to just ignore the girls and enjoy Seifer's humiliation.

 **"Shut up, you bitches! I'm going to find the fucker who put pink-fucking-die in my shampoo and have his ass! Whoever he is!"**

 **"Oooooh!"** the girls mocked, pointing out the insinuations at what he said.

 **"Not like that! Stop putting words in my mouth!"**

 **"Aaaaah!"** the girls continued.

 **"I hate you both. You girls are skanks and everyone knows it. Especially you Scarlet!"**

Scarlet stopped her mockery immediately and gave him a cold glare. Then she sniffed, tossing her nose up with such impudence as she said, **"Something stinks. Oh, it's your fuckin' pride that broke."**

 **"I'm gonna fucking kill Squall. He did this!"**

 **"… Whatever,"** that word cannot be mastered anymore than that familiar monotonous voice possessed by Squall Leonhart.

Squall was not one to be easily surprised or amused but the look on Seifer's new pink was… amusing at best. He was never one for petty revenge. He had given Seifer the face that he deserved in their duel. Seifer had marked his face with a switchblade and in return, Squall scared his with his Gunblade. He wondered if Seifer had any of the visions where the two of them fought with the same sort of weapon…and if they had fought over petty rivalry or… something more. He would see a girl with long brown hair and brown eyes… and she possessed a clear smile on her face. But he didn't see her anywhere here. Midgar was not the place, as it appears.

 **"I'm going to get you for this,"** Seifer warned one last time, pointing an accusatory finger at him before escaping to the bathroom where he needed to… scratch the massive itch on his butt that never lets him go.

Zack felt a little bad that Squall had to take the blame for the petty prank and was surprised to see him head towards their direction but he just took his seat in a table on the corner. Their eyes met for a bit and Zack gave him an apologetic look. Squall raised his brow but shrugged before popping open a can of carbonated water. It appears that Squall was not one to blow the whistle on pranksters either. It wasn't any of his business either. He already knew that Midgar's school environment wasn't exactly the best. But he could also smell drama from a mile away and he wants nothing to do with it. Still, if he was any judge, he wouldn't mind having a casual friendship or two with the ones responsible for Seifer's horrible day.

 **"You think Wakka would give him detention for 'accidentally' dropping a bucket of putty-slim all over him?"** Zack chirped.

 **"Definitely."** Yuffie concluded shamelessly with a wicked grin.

* * *

Rubrum

* * *

Orbis… was almost the best thing that has ever happened to Tifa's life. The reason why Orbis was so popular was because it served food from all continents, even had the famous Midgarian Hot Dog. Though she opted for a simple meal of Fajitas Salad, it was the most balanced and fulfilling meal that she ever had and students eat like this on a regular basis. Not only was t, he taste of the food divine, but the prices were really friendly. Most of the customers are young and seemed to be college aged and she has seen a lot of students from her own school as well. Orbis was their favored place and it was obvious as to why. They even have good music to add to the charming ambience of the restaurant. When people come here, everyone was naturally chatty. Even Tifa.

Her mood was light and relatively happy as she walked back to school with her classmates.

 **"Say, what is Daily Paper about? The one between 13:30 to 14:00,"** Tifa asked.

 **"It's amazing how they still make us do that, even though we are in the iPACE program"** Deuce sighed, shaking her head. **"But it's not all that bad, I just wish that we could stop school a little earlier and more time for club activities."**

 _'But that doesn't answer my question…_ ' Tifa blinked.

 **"Daily Paper,"** Trey started, **"is a practice in VBA where students are 'encouraged' to read daily newspaper. We read Akademian Times since it's the most informative paper in Rubrum printed by the Emporium Press, owned by Mateus Emperor. Strange name, isn't it?"** Trey concluded.

Knowing that Trey will bombard Tifa with all those little facts, Queen continued after him, **"Basically, we read the newspaper and then we write a one-page report from memory on all the articles that we have read. They do this in order to keep us up to date with the world and improve our summary skills… right Trey?"** she teased gently.

Trey mumbled something about precision and 'not his forte' and being naturally inquisitive but his mumblings were inaudible as it was amusing.

 **"I think… this school has a very proactive system,"** Tifa said in realization.

 **"I agree with Deuce though,"** Cinque said, **"we could read the newspaper and have other ways to keep up with world events through Internet. There are blogs, radio stations, television… It's not like we are missing out on anything major if we don't read the newspaper a couple of times."**

 **"I think the extra half-an-hour is a pain too. But we still have plenty of time for club activites. And we live in a dormitory, so its fine. Besides, our iPACE exams can sometimes feature articles from newspapers that can date between one to five years ago. So it's nice to be up-to-date with world events and the exams won't be such a shocker. It also helps improve our writing skills."**

 **"Does it also intend to help us make become better speakers?"** Tifa asked. In truth, she was very nervous of what this 'Daily Paper' can also imply.

 **"No. Writing and speaking are totally different. With speaking it comes down to charisma. Or just practice,"** Queen picked up on Tifa's anxiety and smiled, **"Don't worry. In this course you don't have to stand up in front of the class and make a presentation on your favorite article or something. It's just reading and writing for thirty minutes. Are you a fast reader?"**

 **"I don't know. But I'm about to find out,"** Tifa answered, feeling very relieved.

* * *

Reeve Tuesti was this year's 'Daily Paper' instructor and he squinted his eyes a little at one particular student… who was obviously trying to become one with her seat and disappear. He knew that this was a familiar face and he knew that he knows that face very well. _'Isn't she… Tifa Lockhart? I remember her being one of my best students but I thought she'd be in Midgar High?'_

He took a good look at the stack of newspapers next to him. Normally, he would tell students to 'take one and pass it along' but instead he took the bundle himself and passed by each student and gave him the paper as he talked, **"Good afternoon, students. I am Reeve Tuesti and I will be your Daily Paper instructor, and keep you up to date with current events. Fortunately it's a short class but a meaningful one. It can even help you on your iPACE exams and projects that you have."** When he crossed over to Tifa's table, he paused for a bit.

 _'Oh no! Mr. Tuesti! What are you doing here? I thought you left for Cocoon or something… just what are you really doing here? Did Cloud pay you to spy on me? Wait no… Cloud's popular but not rich. Zack's also popular… Yuffie is rich. Did the little thief send him to spy on me? Don't be ridiculous Tifa. As if Mr. Tuesti doesn't have better things to do. Such as teach. And research… please don't recognize me. Please don't recognize me,'_ She dared to take a peek and their eyes met for a brief few seconds before he moved on with a satisfactory nod that he was sure the rest of the world (but her) missed to see.

 **"Now that you all have your newspapers read every article, yes even the sports section. Write one simple paragraph summarizing the major articles and hand them over to me. This will not count for your iPACE program but it will score you points on your overall class participation. You will see this in your report card. Enjoy your assignment and hand in your report to me. Then we shall have a fun Q &A session. Normally, I would put you in groups but since it's your first day, I shall ask you all individually. Any questions?"**

"Yes!" Cinque raised her hand, "How long do we have to fill out our report."

 **"Starting from now… Ten minutes. You may start."**

* * *

After the report and Q&A session, the class came to a close.

 **"Tifa, aren't you coming?"** Trey asked, confused as to why she was still sitting down. **"You have music next, remember?"**

 **"Why don't you go ahead? I'll catch up. I have some questions I want to ask Mr. Tuesti,"** said Tifa as she eyed her former Design  & Technology teacher back in Midgar High.

 **"Actually, why don't I wait for you outside? We're going to the same class, so might as well walk together,"** Trey offered.

 _'Aw, Trey that is so sweet. You're still worried that I'll lose my sense of directions. I'm fine but it's still appreciated. Thank you so much,'_ Tifa wanted to say instead of **"Sure. Thanks."** It was polite enough, even if it was brief and didn't do anything to tarnish Trey's spirit. He's used to the quiet types around him, especially when his best friend is King.

She watched the students shuffle out of the classroom and she looked at Mr. Tuesti's face intently, knowing that this will get his attention. When most of the students left the classroom Mr. Teusti got up from his desk and walked over to Tifa's seat who promptly stood up. Tifa's could feel her heart beating against her sternum as blood pulsed in her ears. She didn't think that the sound of her heartbeat can get any louder.

 **"Uh… so you recognize me?"** she asked awkwardly. This time, she let herself do what she wanted to do; she smacked her hand against her face and shook her head in her hands.

 **"Tifa Lockhart, was it?"**

Tifa peeked at him from her hands.

Reeve was smiling.

 **"How could I forget one of my favorite students?! I'm still most impressed by your stylus pen designs and those cat-eared headphones that you named Krowne Wear. I wanted to ask your permission for idea property rights and make it myself! I already have a prototype but I never got around finishing it. Instead, I invented Cait Sith… he's an AI with the body of a cat."**

 _'… Definitely a cat person,'_ she thought.

Tifa blinked and was silent for a bit. While she was glad that he still remembers her and her works, she had more pressing matters she wanted to talk about.

 **"Does any of my old classmates know that you are here?"**

Reeve blinked and shook his head as he tapped his chin, **"I shouldn't think so. I haven't really kept in touch with the students of Midgar High? Why?"**

 **"I don't want… anyone in my old school to know that I am here. Not even Yuffie knows that I am here."**

 **"How do you mean?"** Reeve asked, a little confused.

 **"Do you know Cid Highwind?"** she asked exasperatedly, wanting to avoid all talk of her old friends.

 **"… Yes. Why?"**

 **"He was my CID."** She said simply as she watched his expression try to figure out what this could imply and come to a realization.

 **"Ah. I see. Is he still your CID now?"** he asked.

 **"No. I have another CID. Look the point is, if you ever go to Midgar, can you please not tell anyone that I am here?"** she pleaded, her eyes looked up to him, begging. _'I just really don't want Cloud, Zack and Yuffie to know where I am right now! They'd hound me! And tell me how much they hate me!'_

Reeve gave her a kind smile and said, **"I wouldn't know who to tell anyway. But should anyone ask, my lips are sealed."**

Tifa sighed in relief, feeling grateful and whispered, **"Thank you, Mr. Tuesti."**

 **"Besides, it's not worth rubbing it into the face of that unpleasant man, Vice-Principal Gya-ha-ha-Heideigger,"** he reassured humorously.

Tifa snorted, **"Or his daughter, Kya-ha-ha-Scarlet."**

Reeve knows that he should never think contemptuously of any of his students, former or not, difficult or not, but he couldn't help the smirk on his face.

 **"Well you better get along now. I believe a young man is waiting for you to accompany him for … music class I believe,"** he winked and Tifa blinked wondering what in the world was Mr. Tuesti implying. But she shrugged it off and said, **"Sure. And thank you Mr. Tuesti."**

* * *

Trey couldn't help but keep the door slightly ajar and leaned his ear against the door. He had heard almost everything. Tifa originally came from Midgar High. He doesn't know much of Midgar High admittedly but he knew that particular school is owned and governed by Mr. Shinra and he is not a man with a solid reputation but definitely a lot of wealth. He also knew that Shinra was a politician with a lot of influence in Midgar City. His school system is one of meritocracy… especially in terms of wealth. But this girl has a CID; she is a very special circumstance that needed extremely special social services. Trey felt rather guilty and knew he shouldn't be eavesdropping but he grew more and more curious about her. For the moment, he is going to keep this a secret and keep his mouth shut for a while. It may be ironic; he cannot keep his mouth shut about what he had learned from half the encyclopedia but when it comes to important secrets like this; he'd like to think of himself as pretty damn faithful.

When he heard some shuffling he stood up straight at first then leaned against the opposite wall casually, and looked at his watch. He did his best to look as though his hand had never been in the cookie jar in the first place. When the door opened and Tifa entered his peripheral vision, he smiled and offered like a gentleman, **"Shall we?"**

 **"We shall,"** Tifa chimed in mock poshness.

* * *

If from her first impression, Tifa had thought her music teacher was eccentric… she was wrong. He was the most eccentric teacher ever! His outfit was outrageous as he was wearing his midriff in pure glory. He wore his purple and gold scarf around his waist making it look like a skirt and… he had tight leather pants. Yesterday, she had seen him wear feather ornaments but they were mostly lilac or lavender that would fade to white. Now, it looked as though Mr. Kuja Tribal ripped them off of some poor hapless parrot

 **"Hello, my little canaries!"**

The girls blushed at the sight of him; as for the male counterpart of the class, they dipped their chin so low into their chest that it looked as though the upper part of their faces above their nose turned black.

 _'Okay seriously, why does he call us that?! And what's with his outfit! This is going to take some time getting used to… Besides it's kind of cool that we have one teacher that's fun. All the teachers here are… so different than the ones I had in Midgar. The only ones I tolerated there were Mr. Hewley, Mr. Tuesti and Ms. Rayleigh,'_ Tifa thought as her blushed slowly faded while she observed his… midriff.

 **"Welcome to iPACE Music course! It sure is really dandy to meet you. I'm going to test your sense of creativity for this entire week and by the end of our class on Friday… well. I will be the one to flat out tell you to go see Izana in regarding to change courses. If I don't see an ounce of creativity… well, I'm afraid you wouldn't want to waste your time with little old me. Ah, I see some really familiar faces… some new ones. I can't wait to see what sort of melody my little canaries can chirp up. Maybe I'll even find a beautiful nightingale among you,"** he said as he tapped his chin and blinked unnecessarily slowly.

 **"Now first off! I am going to assess your 'Music' perception. Do you see the music keyboards in front of you? There are also pieces of paper found next to it. You are already expected to be able to read notes on the keyboard or for the acoustic guitar. But let's revise what we know and move on from there."**

Mr. Tribal faced the board and started to draw lines and notes that consecutively mounted up starting from 'middle C' or 'do' to the 'C' in the next octave.

 **"Help me out here, canaries? What is this note?"** Mr. Tribal asked the class as his mischievous eyes scanned for students brave enough to raise his or her hand.

And so the class started. Tifa already knows how to read notes thanks to her mother. It was the greatest gift she had left behind for her daughter when she was all alone with her slightly deranged father. But today she had learned to sharpen her ears and match her ears with the notes she sees visually. According to Kuja, it is dangerous to always rely on paper to have a high sense of music perception.

 **"Music is everywhere. It's even in the air your breath, in the stars, in the sky, in the 'beat' of the so called Big Bang, in the Lifestream, in the ripples of the water's surface, in our hearts. You must sense it. Not see it. I remember you telling me wanting to go beyond classical music. I assume that means you want to search for inspiration and compose, hm? I believe your name is Tifa. Am I right? Yes, I'm right. Little miss Tifa Lockhart, you must sharpen your ears as well as your eyes. Close your eyes."**

He would press random keys on the keyboard and have her guess the keys. She would get them wrong half the time. Mr. Tribal tusked and did the same for everyone. The only students who got the highest probability rate of this 'guessing game' were King and, not surprisingly, Braniac Trey. Tifa felt a little jealous and insecure. And if it didn't tend to get any worse, Mr. Tribal had to pair her up with Trey in this exercise.

 **"Trey, show this young canary how a melody must be played,"** he said with dramatic movements of his hand. Trey moved his seat next to Tifa who was squirming with humiliation. He didn't have to point her out like a sore thumb.

Trey moved his face closer to hers and whispered, **"Don't worry. He's always like this. Now close your eyes."**

Tifa gulped and nodded and felt him place headphones over hear head, the cushions of the headphones softly squeezed hear ears. The wire was connected to the keyboard. Trey tweaked the volume to a safe level so as to protect her ears from auditory damage and played one note at a time. Slowly but surely, Tifa got it write. Then, for the next exercise, he would play two notes at a time, then three, then four. It became a great struggle at four at a time but they had a whole week to do it.

They were also paired up in the next batch of exercise regarding creativity. They had a Soryusian song that was translated. The problem was that when it was translated to the common language the rhyming did not work. The challenge was to change the words around and make the rhyming couplets at each stanza and a 'melodious chorus'. This was a fun exercise and Trey was wonderful to work with. Tifa also felt less inferior when she pointed out some of his faults, often reprimanding him for using too many advanced dictionary words instead of how people usually speak. He learned that it is okay to mess up a little because in all fairness, it was a Soryusian song that cannot be easily translated if one hopes to keep the rhythm. But it was a good exercise and they came to appreciate the Soryusian language and their sense of imagery.

* * *

 **"Ms. Emina… I would like to tell you something really important— no too formal. Ms. Emina! I have something I wish to confess to you. I – I really like you! No too childish,"** Nine muttered to himself. He had been practicing all day yesterday on how to come out clean with his feelings for Ms. Emina. Tifa and Trey had been walking together to the main building and found Nine pacing around. Thanks to Tifa's newly 'improved ears' she heard his muttering and understood now why Sice elbowed the guy. Nine has a cute little crush on Ms. Emina.

 _'Heh, looks like Sice isn't the only one with a taboo crush on a teacher! Okay, maybe taboo was too harsh a word here. I'll stick with silly little crush.'_

Sighing, Tifa said out loud, **"Love is in the air."**

 **"Heh?!"** Trey's eyes bulged, and his mind moved at the speed of a sonic train, wondering if she'll say that she likes him. Because he certainly likes her. But then again, it is too soon. But he couldn't help but hope.

Tifa looked at him and then inclined his head to Nine's direction. Trey looked confuse at first until he found his friend pacing around muttering to himself on how to confess to Ms. Emina. A sparkling laughter erupted from Trey's throat as Tifa bit her lower lip to stifle a giggle. While this was funny, he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, as if almost disappointed, but at the same time he was relieved. It was indeed to soon anyway. Now to the matter at hand…

 **"Why don't you just tell her the way it is?"** he said out loud, rousing Nine from his muttering and pacing.

Tifa's eyes crinkled in amusement as she tried hard not to smile but even Nine can tell that she was really amused and might even use this to her advantage… if she was feeling naughty enough.

 **"But… But it's Ms. Emina! She's classy, intelligent… she's not gonna fall for some straight confession something stupid."**

Tifa decided to contribute, **"Yes but she's a literature teacher. She should be able to understand your language… have you tried a love letter?"**

 **"Love letter?!"** Nine looked as if she was crazy. **"No! That's stupid."**

Tifa chuckled and shook her head, **"Yeah, I didn't think it would be your style either. So just tell her in the most simplest of terms. No need to beat around the bush. You're not the type for long drawn out dramas anyway. Are you, Nine?"**

Nine was amazed at how much Tifa was already able to assess about him but then again, maybe the girls talked a lot about him. He liked to think of himself popular among the ladies. He was also the type to hit on girls randomly just because he was in a good mood… or because he was bored. But around Ms. Emina, he was a nervous wreck and it showed!

 **"It'll be okay… in the end,"** Tifa encouraged. But she truly didn't believe it herself. She never understood why she always lied to her own friends like that. She never lied like this to Cloud though. She and Zack basically pushed Aerith and Cloud together, even when Zack was clearly interested in Aerith. He had been very open about his visions about her. But, he was also perceptive enough to see the strong connection of fated lovers. She told Zack that it will be okay… She wonders if Zack still harbors feelings for Aerith. She always thought that because Zack always took the chance to hang out with her (something she never understood). She told him that everything will be alright in the end. But in the end, she is in Rubrum and he is still in Midgar, wondering where the heck she was and she felt bad all over again.

Tifa's eyes were quickly downcast and Trey tilted his head in confusion wondering why Tifa had this slight look of moroseness before quickly covering it with a poker face.

 **"You think so?"** Nine asked hopefully. **"Thanks Tifa. Hey, you're really cool. You know that?"**

Tifa looked at Nine, surprised at his honest opinion of her.

 **"C-cool? Nine… no one has ever told me that. Well except one,"** she remembered Zack all over again. Then she remembered Aerith. **"Sorry, make that two,"** she muttered, **"Anyway, usually I'm just 'alright' or whatever,"** she frowned.

 **"Yeah? Well I said you're cool. So you're cool."** Nine said definitively.

 **"She's here~"** Trey said in a sing-song fashion.

Ms. Emina surely did come as Nine backed himself against the wall, standing straight and rigid, blushing so red that his face took the new color of fuchsia. **"Good morning, Nine. Trey. And… Tifa is it? Oh yes! You're the new scholarship student. It's nice to meet you in person… Oh, you're very cute! I hope to see some good work from you,"** she said in her sweet voice as her keys jingled to get the classroom door open. **"Now come on in. I'm sure everyone is going to come in anyways."**

Tifa sat in the second row with Trey. Tifa watched as the students shuffled in and Cinque marched to their direction and said, **"No way, Trey. You got to monopolize my roomie-doo all day today! Now it's my turn. Not this class. Shoo!"** And she squeezed herself in a seat between the two of them.

 _'Is it just more or is Cinque going to be Class-Zero's resident cock blocker,'_ Trey thought as he resisted the urge to grumble.

 **"So how was music class?"** Cinque asked.

 **"It was great… our teacher's really something,"** Tifa said finally, still wondering how a teacher can get away with dressing the way he does in school. But they say that he is the best there is and she can tell.

 **"Trust me, you have it good. I take Art and I drew some pretty sketches. Wanna see'em back after P.E?"**

 **"I'd love to… but what do you mean, I have it good?"** Tifa asked, frowning.

 **"You're lucky you don't have theatre with Mr. Cyn…"**

 **"Huh… strange name. Mr. Sin. Is he… full of sins?"**

 **"Pfft! Is that how you heard his name. Well that's his real name alright rather than that crappy play on alphabets. Hah! C-Y-N…"** she tusked and shook her head.

Tifa's eyes bulged like dinner plates when she realized what Cinque meant.

 **"Your Thespian teacher is… BAHAMUT SIN! Sky Dragon God?!"** Tifa could barely keep herself from exclaiming.

 **"Indoor voices please!"** Ms. Emina reminded them. **"And yes… I myself am confused why our school faculty decided it was a good idea to hire Bahamut to be their drama teacher. How long do we have to be the knight in shining armor, kill a dragon, smooch a princess and live happily ever after. It's going to be a disaster. Even if he is good at teaching!"**

 _'Principal Khalia must have the patience of a saint to think of hiring a god as a teacher and knowing about it!'_ Tifa sighed, feeling exasperated.

 _'Well, better Mr. Sexy-Leather-Pants-and-Feathers rather than having a fucking dragon breathing down my neck… It's weird to study under a god… who you kill in their true form in your visions. Yes. I am a knight. I wore weird outfits. And I fought 'Mr. Cyn' and his little cousin dragons as well in my visions. I was nearly killed by one two. Then I myself throwing Cloud into the sky with brute strength and let him kill the dragon by himself. And there were no smooch scenes after that. Thank Holy!'_ she thought.

 **"Is everyone here? Good! Let's begin~"**

* * *

Midgar – Sector 7

* * *

School had finished half an hour early for the 'three musketeers' as Yuffie liked to call themselves, and they made it their ambition to find Tifa and pull her head out of her ass. Not once has Cloud ever blamed Tifa for what happened to Aerith. He cannot even begin to understand why Tifa kept muttering that it was her fault. There is no way Tifa would hurt Aerith so much that she would end up in a life-and-death situation. It was a tragic accident. If he was to blame someone, he would blame the gods first for sending that blasted tornado that obliterated his village.

Zack just wants to see Tifa in one healthy piece. Sure she has some issues, but he will continue to give him his helping her hand. But in this case, he felt like shoving his helping had down her throat so she'll be forced to take it and swallow his love for her.

Yuffie just misses the caring and motherly nature of Tifa. Yuffie, like her, lost her mother when she was young and grew up around men which was why she was such a tomboy. She has learned some martial arts. She would often escape to the life of the streets in Wutai which was no picnic either. But that is where she picked up the most useful skills such as pick-locking and pickpocketing. She felt guilty too and though she wouldn't voice it, she felt that if she didn't steal Tifa's stuff all the time, she wouldn't shut herself away from her friends.

So they were outside her apartment. Dingy was the best way to describe it. There was also something else that made Cloud's face turn beet red, Zack wolf whistling like a pervert and had Yuffie scratching her head. It was the sound of constant female moaning in the apartment just next to hers accompanied by male groaning.

Finally Yuffie piped, **"This is awkward. Poor Tifa… I can't believe she lives in a place so filthy."**

Cloud rolled his eyes, his face still red with embarrassment, **"Her CID probably didn't know. He was very neglectful of this shithole. Crazy Captain-Swears-A-Lot."**

 **"Hey, should we peek in there, just for fun."**

 **"Ew! No! What the fuck is wrong with you Zack?"** Cloud whispered harshly and Zack chuckled thinking that everyone should know by now not to take him seriously when he's like this.

But then, all color drained from their faces from their faces when the heard a familiar voice through the door. **"Gya-ha-ha! That was fun! Let's do it again… you sexy, curvy red-headed bitch!"**

Yuffie looked at her friends at the corner of her eyes and whispered, **"Was that—"**

Cloud was shaking, feeling gross and dirty all over. From all the detentions he had thanks to this fat bearded asshole, he knows very well whose laugh that is.

 **"Dude, did he just say 'Gya-ha-ha' just now?! Does that mean?"**

 **"GUYS HIDE!"** Yuffie squeaked and hid behind an angle in the corridor where the three boys peeked to see a familiar, unflattering male silhouette come out of the apartment next to Tifa's. Cloud quickly covered her mouth to muffle her squeaks as Zack mouthed, 'holy shit!' and they hid and pressed their backs against the wall. They held their breaths until the heard their Vice-Principal walk downstairs they peeked again and saw that he was out of sight.

The came out of their hiding spot, mouths open and minds reeling with this new revelation.

 **"Well… that was something,"** said Zack, then a wicked grin graced his handsome features, **"Maybe we can use this information as blackmail. If he ever gives you detention, Cloud, you know what to do."**

Cloud angrily tusked and said, **"Right now, I want to barge down Tifa's door!"**

 **"Already ahead of you Chocobo-butt!"** Yuffie yelled as she ran down the corridor and body slammed against the door only to let the momentum push her back against the opposite wall. **"Ow… oh well, I tried. I hit Mr. Door. Mr. Door hit me back! But I, Yuffie Kisaragi, shall never fear, for I am the Greatest Thief to have ever lived!"**

Then she kicked the door again as hard as she could but hurt her foot. Reeling with pain she hopped on one foot comically. **"Well fuck you too, Mr. Door!"** she swore.

Cloud face palmed as Zack's chest shook with merry laughter at Yuffie's antics. He glared at his friends and resisted the urge to smack them upside the heads before he marched towards 'Mr. Door' with frightening purpose and knocked loudly for the whole complex to hear the fury of his fist.

 **"Tifa! OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR! I'M SERIOUS! Why were you absent today? You missed the greatest prank yet! Seifer has pink hair and you fucking missed! NOW OPEN THE DOOR TIF! You're not escaping from us this time! Is this about Aerith? How do you think I feel! I'm not happy about it either… we should talk… We need you. We miss you. So…"** Cloud was desperate and sounded as though he was about to cry, until he got angry again, too stubborn to let the tears fall and said, **"SO OPEN THE GOD DAMN DOOR! TIFA! OPEN UP!"** He barraged his strong fist against the door and then kicked it so hard that that hinges screeched in protest of his assault.

 **"Oh for fuck's sake!"**

Cloud glared at the woman who rudely interrupted his assault on poor Mr. Door. Then he did a double take on the appearance of the woman. It was obvious from her smell and make up that she was a, uh, professional woman. She was utterly topless and clad only in her bright red lace panties. She was not ashamed and gave no care about what people thought of her if she walked around topless like this. On her hand, there was a phone which was unfortunately on loud speaker. On the other side of the wire, was a deep rumbling voice that said, **"Rosso, my darling? What is it? Why did you swear?"**

Rosso realized that her phone was on loudspeaker and shut it off before pressing it against her ear. **"It's nothing, love. Just some noisy, disrespectful neighbor asking for directions."**

 **"Just be careful…"** said the man she was speaking too.

 **"I will, Azul. Take care. I love you. Bye,"** Rosso hung up the phone and turned her cold gaze at the three teenagers that were causing such a racket.

 **"What the fuck does anyone care about indoor voices these days? If you bang on the door like that again, I will call the cops!"**

Zack cleared his throat and said, **"Sorry, miss we're just—"**

 **"Wow! You have big boobs, lady!"** Yuffie suddenly piped.

Zack glared at her before clearing his throat again and said, "Like we were saying, we are looking for a friend. She's your neighbor."

Rosso shook her head and corrected, **"Was. Poor girl went through so much. Anyway, she's not here. She's moved away two weeks ago. Good for her too. Why are you looking for her? Are you her friends? Or her enemies? Depending on your answer, I may not call the cops!"**

Yuffie raised her hands defensively and said, **"Hey, hey! We are her friends okay! And we're worried about her. That's all!"**

Cloud pulled his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out some bills of money and handed it to the woman. **"Obviously you aren't going to give any more info without some incentive. Where did Tifa go?"**

Rosso rudely snatched the money from the man's hands and replied, **"Its good incentive. But I really don't know. All I know is that she was very unhappy here and left."**

Cloud sighed and closed his eyes to regain his patience.

 **"Okay. Do you know anything else?"**

Rosso considered him for a moment before she resented, **"She left with some blond man in a car. That's all I know. Good day,"** and she slammed the door to their faces.

Cloud did the calculations and said, **"Cid… and Tifa... I can't believe she's gone. She's left Midgar… She's left us!"** Cloud shouted.

Zack placed his hand on Cloud's shoulder to calm him down, **"Woah wait man. Maybe there is more to this than it looks man. She can't have left. Where would she go?!"**

Cloud roughly brushed his friend's hand off his shoulder in exasperation, **"Tifa. Left. Midgar. She has a CID. Cid Highwind took her away from Nibelheim. Now he took her to another city. Or maybe even another continent…"**

Zack hoped that it wasn't true. She had to still be in Midgar. **"Come on, we'll tear this city apart to look for her. We can't trust cops. Fine. We'll just have to look the old fashioned way. Midgar High isn't the only high school here. We'll look through every single high school, ask the pretty secretaries to look up her name in their database and we'll find her. Maybe her CID finally pulled his head out of his ass and moved her to a richer area. Let's start there."**

 **"Zack…"** Yuffie's sad tone caught both the boys' attention, **"Wherever she went, she left without saying goodbye".**

Cloud looked at the floor, realizing the weight of what Yuffie could mean.

 **"She hates us,"** he muttered sadly, then became angry all over again, **"She was never that nice to us. I remember crushing on her. Seeing visions of her tending a bar. Watching over children. I remember seeing her fight by my side and help me protect Aerith while I swing around that big sword. I … I liked that girl Zack. But she always treated us like nuisance. She never talked to us about her visions, she never let us in her heart. What do we owe her?"**

Zack then punched Cloud lightly across the face. Cloud looked the other way, shocked.

 **"Pulled your head out of your ass yet, Chocobo-butt?"**

Cloud blinked a little and felt ashamed of what he said.

 **"Tifa just comes from the center of a barren land called, The Land of Utter Denial. And her capital is called Stubborn Mule. And do you really think that Tifa hates us? She may have not noticed you at first but in the end, she let you talk to her and hang around her. Sure, we may have forced our friendship on her, but she let us in. If she really hated us, would she put up with Yuffie's stealing and my own shinanigans? I believe… no. I know, that everything Tifa does, Tifa does with good reason. And we're going to find out. I'm not giving up on her Cloud. And neither would Aerith!"** he declared.

Cloud looked at him, surprised, but when the haze of his rage faded from his mind, he found nothing but understanding and acceptance of the situation. He nodded slowly as he mulled over what Zack said.

 **"And neither should you. And Yuffie, if I know you as well as I do, you're going to find her anyway and stalk her."**

Yuffie's mood considerably brightened up and said, **"I never said I was going to give up. I'm not a loser like you two! Bleh!"** she stuck her tongue out at them childishly. **"I suggest we ask Jesse print out the best directory of Midgarian locations. Then we'll hit the first school tomorrow."**

Cloud, feeling rather inspired by Yuffie's sense of taking initiative nodded with conviction and said, **"I'll plan out the maps and road trips. I think it's fastest by bike."**

 **"We should also be mindful of school hours and holidays. I would collect every school main phone number, but asking for a lost friend might cause suspicion. It's best to go to school and meet the staff in person. I'm going to think up of stories for each of us. We should also take turns."**

With their new plan set into motion, they looked forward to tomorrow as they start their secret mission.

 **"Let's call this _Operation: Lockhart_ ,"** Cloud concluded. **"Let's mosey!"**

* * *

Rubrum

* * *

 **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"** Nine yelled at the top of his lungs as he expertly hurled his spear through the distance of the playing field. **"Damn it all to hell!"** he cursed. Then he burst into tears as he cried out the rage of his heart and felt the sting of sadness that remained. **"Ms. Emina…"** he uttered tearfully.

He had been so happy that Literature was last period before P.E. It was the perfect time to tell Ms. Emina that he was very fond of her. But Ms. Emina had rejected him for two reasons; the first being their status. She was his teacher and he was her student. He understood that part and suggested they wait till the graduate and give it a chance. But she shook her head and told him that she was already going out with someone else… and that happened to be Machina's older brother and the teacher's assistant, Izana Kunagiri.

He marched over the crate and took out another spear for the next throw. He has done this several times as the some of the classmates watched.

 _'Wow… he's taking it really badly,'_ Tifa observed as the man kept crying out in heartbreak and rage. Every so often he would curse Izana as well as Machina, even though the younger brother had nothing to do with the relationship. She felt even sorrier for Machina since he is Nine's desk partner for the rest of the program.

 **"Here comes Pitch Number 11!"** he yelled as the eleventh javelin sailed through the air in a smooth curve across the field. It hit its impressive mark but Nine was too absorbed in his own personal sorrow that he couldn't appreciate his athletic abilities now of all times. He was about to throw his twelfth javelin if it hadn't been for a tall woman that possessed wild beauty and had the look of the fittest fitness model.

 **"Alright, that's enough!"**

The woman had a strange accent too that suggested she was from Gran Pulse.

 **"You want to get detention?"** she said as she gripped the javelin with impressive strength and pulled it away from Nine's hand. He blinked and gulped at the intimidating gaze of their P.E teacher's piercing green eyes. **"Then I suggest you come quiet".**

It was then to everyone's surprise the understood who was going to be the mentor for the Dissidia Prep. Their teacher was… Fang Yun of Oerba.

In her village, she would introduce herself as Oerba Yun Fang but of course the official documents would write it in their own order. In any case, she was simply known as Fang of the Wildnerness in the Dissidia Tournaments. So many people had betted on her and still remain loyal to her when she was bested by Lightning Farron.

She gingerly placed the javelin back into the crate and said, **"Those are some impressive throws there. What's your name?"**

Nine flustered and cleared his throat. **"Nine… Nine Pugna."**

 **"Nine, eh? Go and kindly fetch the rest of the javelins, please? It'll be a long workout for you,"** Fang smirked.

 **"Right. Uh, yes ma'am!"** Nine quickly ran to get all the javelins he had thrown without permission and it was indeed a long journey between the javelins and the crate. In the meantime, Fang turned her attention to the rest of the students.

 **"Stand in line!"**

Like soldiers they did as they were told.

 **"My name is Fang Yun. You may not call me Ms. Yun. First rule in my class, first name basis only. No need to make me feel any older than I am already. Now if you'll kindly introduce yourselves to me, that will be great and I will try my best to remember all your names. As you know, I specialize in javelin throwing and spear duels and was a former contestant of Dissidia. Let's start with the ones that made Dissidia Prep their first choice. Raise your hands if you have chosen Dissidia Prep."**

Tifa, Seven, Trey, Nine, King and Alvis raised their hands. Fang pointed at Tifa first. **"Let's start with you. Tell me your name, special sport and how long you've been training in it."**

 _'Here we go!'_ Tifa started, **"My name is Tifa. And I've trained in Martial Arts since I was eight and half."**

 **"Impressive. Next?"**

 **"I'm Seven and my special skill is swordplay and whip. I have been training for five years now."**

 **"Do you have a sword whip as your heirloom?"**

 **"Yes, but I have never used it,"** Seven answered.

Fang shrugged, **"Neither have I. Who has, anyway? Now what about you?"** she inclined at Trey.

 **"I'm Trey Cognitio. My specialty is archery and I am in fact the head of the archery club. I've been training for seven years."**

 **"Very nice. Target practice is Dissidia's favorite obstacle course, no matter what kind of simulation they arrange. And you? What is your specialty?"**

 **"I'm King. I'm familiar with firearms and marksmanship. I've been training for two years now. I also know some knife fighting and martial arts."**

 **"Understandable. Next?"**

 **"I'm Alvis. I've actually used my heirloom weapon, the electro-magnetic rod for some time."**

 **"What kind of rod is it?"** Fang asked.

 **"It's a mix between a short Katana and a standard extendable rod,"** he replied. **"I admit, most of my training had been on the streets of Midgar slums. I relied mostly on my instincts."**

Fang nodded, understanding that some of them come from very rough places rather than her peaceful village of Oerba and she was not one to judge.

 **"Instincts can be the best friend. But we'll see if that is enough for you to get by. In the meantime, let's get to know everyone that took gymnastics as their first option. Interesting how they are two separate subjects since they overlap most of the time."**

Tifa has learned even more about her fellow classmates when they introduced themselves and their 'special sport'. Some of them don't really have a specialty but more of an heirloom that they have used, or never used, or just hardly used. Cater is skilled with the revolver, but in the end chose gymnastics. Sice possesses a scythe which would have been a great weapon of combat for Dissidia. Yet she chose gymnastics. She looked like the type that wouldn't hesitate to enter challenging obstacle courses and battles. She already knew about Eight. Jack is skilled with the Katana… another potential Dissidia member but she had the feeling he was too much of a class clown to enter the Tournaments. Deuce, Queen, Rem and Machina all have some background in fencing. Ace, like King, has background with knife play, but mostly prefers throwing knives and darts and funny enough… 'Bladed Cards'. She wondered if Ace took the inspiration from the Joker, and she wasn't thinking about the school doctor… even if he wasn't that farfetched of an idea.

 **"It's nice to see this much of variation in you guys. But sadly, only the few of you can enter Dissidia Prep course through this two day evaluation. Everyone is obliged to participate; even if you did not make Dissidia your first option. Your first day is composed of simple fitness tasks for one hour. The next day, we have two hours of one-on-one competitions. Got it? Ah, Nine! Good of you to join us. We're just about to get started."**

Nine was already sweating from the warm-up that he had to go through in order to retrieve all the javelins. He couldn't carry them three at a time but two out of time, otherwise, he would have completed the task faster.

 **"Your first task, is everyone's favorite,"** Fang said playfully, **"Do fifty push-ups. Are you ready? Go!"**

* * *

By the end of the day, everyone became a sweating mess thanks to Fang's grueling work-out session but it was a good assessment on everyone's stamina. It was obvious that Deuce, Cinque and Rem were not the athletic type but they weren't too bad either. Cinque was surprisingly the most resilient. The same could be said about Jack… until he flopped onto the ground like a fish out of water. They had done push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, and a combination of several types of exercises at the command of their coach's whistle.

Tifa, though sweating, was used to this feeling. She would train with Master Zangan until she could feel the stinging burn of lactic acid in her muscles but she would still push through. All the inner energy would gather up around her small hands and dainty feet to deliver powerful blows, one after another. This was nothing to what Zangan had taught her. But of course, Fang was no joke either.

 **"Okay. Now lie down on the grass and take deep breaths as you look at the sky. Do it ten times…"** she said as she too lied down on the ground and did her breathing exercises. **"Alright,"** she got up and casually helped Deuce and Rem up to their feet and let the rest of them pick themselves up from the ground. **"You all did a great job. Tomorrow we'll see who gets to stay in Dissidia Prep. Now as you know, in the iPACE program, P.E is completely optional. Gymnastics, Sports & Health, those classes will be supervised by me, but not extensively. And you are only expected to fulfill one-hundred hours of the course. If you finish all these hours this year, consider next year to be full of free periods. But if you are part of Dissidia Prep, expect to take full three-hundred hours and some more if you ever hope to get a chance at Dissidia Tournaments and represent your school. You will also get visits and training from other mentors who were also former contestants of Dissidia. Are there any questions? … No? Then class dismissed. Go to your dorms and take a nice, long shower, then have your dinner. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight everybody!"**

 _'Goodnight…? Holy! It's 17:00. If the next class is two hours, school ends at 18:00 for me. Damn… but why do I like this so much?!'_ she mulled as she looked at her hands and clenched them into fists. Piano fingers that look so delicate suddenly do not seem delicate anymore; especially if she were to deliver a punch.

 **"Hey Tifa,"** Eight greeted as he sauntered over to her side.

Tifa raised her eyes from her hands and let them rest at her side. **"Hey."**

 **"We didn't get to talk that much today. But I am excited to have a sparring match with you tomorrow."**

 **"I'm looking forward for it too. Thanks Eight. Oh and uh… Cater has no clue. But you know what? Since we take Wutainese class, maybe I can arrange a way to get Cater to sit next to you."**

Eight blushed and muttered, **"I don't know what you're talking about but thank you."** Then he sheepishly grinned, **"I knew I chose right for my sparing buddy!"**

Tifa laughed as they walked to their dormitory. **"Well, see you tomorrow, Eight."**

 **"See ya."**

* * *

After freshening up and slipping into her pajamas, Tifa opened the door to answer current dorm buddy that was handing out dinner. This time, the assignment went to Rem. "Hey girls. I got your dinner." She handed them two hot plates from the crate. Cinque was lying on her belly feeling very tired so Tifa carefully took the trays and placed it on their table. **"Thank you so much Rem. Are you okay?"**

 **"I just can't wait to get to bed, but thanks Tifa. Goodnight~"** she waved and Tifa closed the door after her. She went to Cinque's bed and shook her awake.

 **"Hey, come on, get up. Sore muscles?"**

Cinque complained childishly, **"How is it that you have so much energy, even after that workout. I feel like a plate of mashed potatoes."**

Tifa giggled at her description of fatigue. Mashed potatoes sounds about right.

 **"Speaking of which, we have beef roast, mashed potatoes and some yummy greens for dinner. It looks good."**

 **"I prefer eating in a restaurant Tif, but whatever you say. I'm starving. And tired."**

The two girls dined together and chatted amiably.

 **"So Tif, how is it that you can tolerate Trey's babbling?"**

Tifa shook her head and laughed, **"Poor Trey keeps getting bashed on by you guys. Give the guy some slack. He's really not that bad. He's been very nice and helpful to me. Especially in music class… because Mr. Tribal is just so eccentric and he is so demanding."**

Cinque giggled and said, **"I agree. Wait till you join the orchestra. He wants nothing short of perfection. You know what's funny is that he's always been a soloist. But ever since he's learned to play in a group, he found out that he prefers leading a group and boy… he's tyrannical. Glad I took Art. I have lovely sweet Miss Rosa Harvey."**

 **"But… he is a good teacher and his class is interesting. I was never bored in his class. Ms. Emina is nice and all but I might snooze a lot if we play 'let's analyze this thick novel by some thick author' jig."**

 **"You won't do that! Ms. Emina's the funniest literature teacher ever! Trust me,"** Cinque peeled with laughter. **"One time, we were doing a school work on The Nameless Tome and somehow Ms. Emina made an abridged version out of it and it was full of internet memes and pop culture references, my stomach hurt from laughing."**

 **"If she can do the same thing for LOVELESS, I'd be very happy…. Even if I do like the play. Beautifully tragic."**

 **"And if you look real closely at it… lots if innuendoes, Teefy,"** Cinque warned. Tifa looked at her confused until a sudden though passed through her mind like a game of darts.

 _'I haven't called Barret yet!'_

As they finished dinner Cinque offered to take the plates back into the crates situated at the end of the hall. The cleaners come every morning to take care of them anyway.

Tifa took the chance to call Barret using her ChatterBox app and used the video option. Much to her delight, Barret's large, dark skinned faced appeared on the screen, later accompanied by a large rustic smile. **"Tif! Muh big girl! About god damn time you called, foo! I was worried about you! How's life in Rubrum?"**

 **"Barret. It's great here. The air is cleaner. The food is better. I am in a dorm now since VBA is a boarding school. I have a roommate as well. And I have another roommate and guess who she is… Elfé Verdot. You know, the one girl that defeated Sephiroth? So during the school holidays I stay with her."**

 **"Damn gurl! How did that ol' foo afford all that?"** Barret questioned.

 **"Oh uh… he's not my CID anymore. I have a new CID now."**

 **"Fo' the best, Tif. Don't get me wrong. The man's gotta lot o' heart. But y'know. He ain't all there. If you ask me, I think the foo's kinda coo-coo, gurl."**

 **"Anyway, where's Marlene?"**

 **"Just wait a sec. I'll go get her. Marlene, guess who it is?"**

A small child's face appeared on camera and Tifa's heart melted at the sight of her small innocent face with large brown eyes that sparkled like posies in a grass field. **"Tifa!"** she cried excitedly.

 **"Hi baby! How are you? How was school?"** Tifa cooed. She barely noticed Cinque coming in and observing her as she sneaked under the covers.

 **"I'm fine. And school was great. I met all my old friends. And some new ones. And you Tifa? Are you happier now…?"** she asked softly the last question.

Tifa had always been amazed at Marlene's perception but she answered kindly, **"Yeah. I think your big sister is going to have a lot of new friends now. Wish her luck?"**

Marlene, though she was a small child, she could always sense Tifa's fatigue and unhappiness when she was in Midgar. But she never doubted that Tifa loved her with all hear heart.

 **"I wish you lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of luck, Tifa! You're my big sister. And I give you a big hug!"** Marlene answered sweetly.

Tifa giggled and playfully asked, **"How big?"**

 **" _Thiiiiis_ big!"** Marlene replied as she stretched out her arms, **"I love you Tifa!"**

Tifa was touched. She never thought she liked children but… little girls like Marlene, when they give you a hug, it was like magic.

 **"I love you too, baby."**

 **"I have to go do my homework. Bye-bye Tifa. Call again!"** she chirped and handed the phone to Barret.

 **"Ain't my lil' girl cute?!"** he asked proudly with his chest puffed up like a rooster. And he had every right to be proud. Marlene was god-send to all of them and Tifa misses them very much.

 **"She is, Barret. I take it you are still busy with the mines?"**

 **"Yeah, the ol' boys back in Corel ain't doing well. I'm trying my hardest here though. Y'know how it goes."**

Tifa understood the financial situation wasn't the fairest with Barret but with his stubborn nature, she knows he'll pull through somehow. And Marlene is still a happy kid from what she could tell.

 **"Well, take care Barret. I'll call you again when I get the time."**

 **"You betta'. See ya, Tif."**

Tifa pressed the 'End call' button and ended the discussion. Sighing she laid head against the pillow. She didn't notice Cinque one bit until her voice penetrated her reminiscing. **"That was so cute, Tifa! You have a little sister? I wish I had one."**

Tifa smiled at this and said, **"No actually, Marlene is like my little sister. She considers me one. We get along so well, we even share the same bed. Barret hired me to baby-sit her whenever he was too busy. I was thirteen when I first met them… Ah the memories."**

 **"Hm… Tifa, do you have friends back in Midgar?"**

Tifa was a little surprised at the sudden question and said, **"Yes."**

 **"What are they like?"**

She didn't know how to answer and she was tired. So she thought to answer them honestly, **"To be honest, I used to think they were always in my way. They were nosy. I always wanted to be alone for some reason. But in the end, they are great people and I call them my friends. My best of friends."**

Cinque couldn't help but feel a little intrigued at her story and was disappointed that she didn't seem to elaborate any more than that. But to her delight she continued.

 **"One had catch phrases and hair that looks like the ass-end of a chocobo. The other was a flirt and very popular with girls. Then we have a sneaky kleptomaniac. And finally,"** she gulped at the last part, knowing that she'll have to talk about Aerith at one point of her life.

 **"Go on…"** Cinque prompted gently.

Tifa sighed, **"And finally… a girl who loves flowers. She always smelled like lilies."**

There she finished. While it wasn't telling much, it was something and Cinque felt a little victorious at getting Tifa to cough up a little more about her past. In a way, she knows that she's getting in Tifa's way and is being nosy too but Tifa was being nice, even if she was still evasive.

 **"That's quiet the motley crew you got there, Teefy."**

 **"You know what? I could say the same thing about Class-Zero. Ace is a math whiz that studies too much. I caught him studying in the library on orientation day. Even I don't do that! Deuce is the flute player. Probably the most normal out of the bunch. Trey is the memory-monster called Braniac and in a band. Cater is the most blunt girl I have ever met. She gives straight answers so instantly! Sice is a tough tomboy. Seven is everyone's resident mother hen. Eight is a martial artist… he's normal too actually. Kinda. Nine… we all know the story of Nine. Jack is the class clown who is also in a band. Queen is the valedictorian. King is the silent one who is also in a band. Rem is a romantic. Machina is obsessed with phobias and his brother is dating our literature teacher. And Alvis was an ex-biker gang member from Midgar slums."**

 **"And I'm the weirdo and you're the shy, introverted new girl."** Cinque finished for her with a meaningful laugh.

Tifa gave a mock gasp and said, **"You're not that weird! You're just… unique?"** she offered plainly.

 **"That's cute, Teefy. Very cute,"** Cinque replied sardonically then yawned. **"What time is it?"**

Tifa looked at her smartphone and replied, **"It's 8PM damn. I usually sleep at 10PM."**

 **"Sleep now. You'll sleep like a log."**

 **"I guess…"** Tifa snuggled underneath her blanket. _'Just one second'._ Tifa got up again and shoveled through her bag to take a piece of paper and a pen. She had to write her 'Tuesday' paragraph in her letter for Aerith. She scribbled a few lines before tucking it back in her bag and went back to bed.

 **"Goodnight Cinque."**

"Night Teefy," Cinque turned off the lights and the two roommates were sound asleep the second they closed their eyes.

* * *

Alvis changed into his casual clothes quickly and took out his phone. He had met his roommate but he wasn't really talkative or friendly. Not that he cared, he had heard all about Nine's romantic misadventure. And he could have had worse roommates and truthfully, no one here was really that bad. But the fact that he had to learn to live with them like a family irked him a little. Thankfully, this was just a job for him at the moment. He received this job expectantly and was rather furious that he was given a forced transfer from Class-One to Class-Zero. But, since he has an informal job that paid big bucks and it doesn't get in way of his personal life, he couldn't complain.

 **"Look, sorry man. It's just I had a pretty bad day, yo,"** Nine said eventually.

Alvis didn't know if he should be the type to be the apologetic kind but he just nodded. **"It happens man. 'Sides, Ms. Emina is a catch. You have good taste. Izana's a lucky bastard."**

 **"Tch. He's a bastard alright. Him and his brother!"**

"That's harsh, don't you think?" Alvis raised a brow with a wry smile, "I mean I know you guys never got along together but calling him a bastard just because his brother snagged a really… really hot chick."

 **"Maybe, but Machina's still a prick,"** Nine laughed.

Alvis shrugged, **"Whatever man."**

 **"Anyway, the guys invited me to watch some TV. Apparently they are going to show the pilot episode Soul Eater."**

Alvis blinked at the offer and thought for a moment. Soul Eater was an awesome visual novel and he hopes that the pilots won't ruin it. He also liked the meme jokes like Mr. Death's 'coffee table flip' maneouver. So he did't mind.

 **"They aren't going to show things like Saints Row or No More Heroes, since its 'too violent' for school standards. Yup, censorship sucks,"** Nine shrugs, **"But our options aren't all that bad."**

 **"Soul Eater's pretty funny. Hey do you think they let us play video games in the lounge?"**

 **"I wish, bruh."**

 **"Damn," Alvis snapped his finger as he tusked. His phone rang. When he looked at the name displayed on his callar I.D, he gave it a savage frown and said, "Excuse me, but I gotta take this first. I'll join you later."**

 **"Sure, bruh."**

Alvis quickly went down stairs and settled against the dorm's granite veranda to take the call. There was no one and he was sure of his privacy.

 **"You have some nerve, blondie. How d'you snag me into Class-Zero?"**

 **"I have my ways. So, how's she?"**

 **"… You're kinda sick, paying me to watch over some girl."**

 **"And yet you took the job. You want the money, right? So I suggest if you want your transfer to come smoothly, you do as I request. I didn't give you anything hard. So tell me how Tifa's doing."**

 **"… She's fine. She seems friendly with everyone. Nothing spectacular. She's going to take the Dissidia Prep course."**

 **"… Why?"**

 **"How the hell should I know?"**

 **"Never mind then. Just keep watch of her and tell me how she's doing."**

 **"Something tells me she doesn't need a babysitter, much less a stalker hounding her footsteps."**

 **"No. She doesn't. She's much too independent. But I still—"**

There was a pause. Alvis's brows creased further until he snapped, **"Still what?"**

 **"None of your business. I'll call you again later. In the meantime, enjoy. It's not like you're an idiot either, just because you were a slum rat."**

 **"Just shut the fuck up, blondie!"** Alvis aggressively pressed the button to hang up and expulsed a harsh sigh. He was desperate for money. He had his own CID but he didn't want to rely on him anymore either. He got his money regularly but he got more money from this suspicious person and he couldn't complain. But deep down, he was fretting with his morals. He could act friendly with the other classmates, that wasn't hard. As long as he doesn't have to be friends with them. This job doesn't make it necessary to be friends with Tifa Lockhart either. She's pretty; hell give her that. But he felt that he wasn't exactly her type if she was going to be goody-two-shoes. Gripping his phone he convinced that a job is just a job and he can go on days without telling his mysterious employer that Tifa is doing fine, has many friends and is doing well in school. Easiest money ever made.

Alvis went back into the lounge where the guys and some girls greeted him. He plopped himself next Nine and enjoyed the pilot episode of Soul Eater.

* * *

Caius did a little arm exercise and rolled his wrist frequently as he muscles stiffen and loosen at each movement. **"Tifa, would you like to share how you felt when you found out that Alvis was—"**

 **"I was fuckin' pissed. But that's for another time,"** Tifa chimed mischievously, **"That's for another time. I know you think this chapter was unnecessary."**

 **"It felt as though I was grilling this chapter out for more than a month,"** Caius groused. He was not an impatient man but he had to point this out, **"You mean to tell me that after all the Daily Paper classes, you are still not going to give me something concise to work with."**

 **"Oh, but Mr. Ballad. Where is the fun in that? I have to talk this out don't I? Besides, if you are going to publish your report on me, might as well make it an exciting novel. Like making lemonades. So this chapter was fifty-one pages, I admit, it's a bit long. But I want my future readers to get a good feel of the classroom culture along with the iPACE program. Besides… all my first interactions with my classmates, pretty much decided the kind of relationship I was going to have with them. Some of them were easy, some of them were rocky. And some of them were a mix of both. But, even though we went our separate ways, we keep in touch."**

 **"Yes, Lockhart. FacePage may have helped with that," Caius offered bluntly.**

 **"Meh. I'm not the most active on FacePage like most people. But that's beside the point."**

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 **A/N:** guys I am so sorry that I took so long to grill this chapter its more than 25K words. I feel like a chronic liar because each time I say that the next chapter should be shorter and I ended up writing something nearly a third longer than the last. I really do hope to write more concisely. I also had a case of writer's block and now that the block has been slowly chipped at and broken, I hope that I produced a good chapter. I feel that my writing style has deteriorated a little bit. This wasn't my favorite chapter to write but it was necessary.

More importantly, I would like to hear any suggestions you might have. I may heed to them. I still have lots of ideas on how this story will progress and they are kind of like a scatter graph but hopefully I'll get that organized soon. So stay tuned for that and I hope to be more regular at posting new chapters too.

Some notes I should make:

1) kooliomail is the equivalent of Hotmail.

2) FacePage, if you remember is the equivalent of Facebook.

3) There is a lot of references to other anime, cartoons, games and other such fun media. Speedy Gonzales is property of Warner Bros. If you don't remember him he is 'The Fastest Mouse in Mexico'. Soul Eater is a manga and anime property of Ohkubo Atsushi. In this universe its a TV show. Saints Row a video game series and property of Volition. Batman belongs to DC. Alice in Wonderland belongs to Lewis Carroll and in this universe is a storybook as well.

4) The restaurant Orbis is made up, but if it exists in our world, it's purely coincidental. The word 'Orbis' means is the alternative Latin word for 'World' but it could also mean 'orbit'. 4) In case you still didn't get how the class-level sytem works in terms of iPACE; I'll explain here. iPACE, which stands for International Performance, Aptitude and Competence Evaluation is based off of the IB (International Baccalaureate) which exists in real life. But in this AU, its iPACE with both normal and 'supernatural' subjects (that I could come up with for a world like Final Fantasy. Namely Alchemy and Magitek). Each subject is divided into Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL). Class-Zero is obliged to take all HL subjects. Class-One is obliged to take five HL subjects and one SL subject. Class-Two can have four HL subjects and two SL subjects. And so it goes. Classes Zero to Six participate in the iPACE program. Classes Seven to Twelve just has high school diploma, or A-Levels, as it's called in some countries.

So I hope you have a very full idea on my take on Vermillion Bird Academy and the kind of school system and environment our beloved Tifa Lockhart signed up for.

Remember that this fanfiction is AU.

That being said, thank you for reading, guys! I look forward to your reviews!

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 **DISCLAIMERS:** None of the characters mentioned in this fanfiction belong to me, they are **property of Square Enix** , unless said otherwise.


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